


Somos Algo

by jetblock



Category: 3Below, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Growth, Character Study, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, feelings? who she, mr.johnson deserves no rights gang, these kids are smart but theyre dumbasses, writing characters when they have no screen time is hard y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetblock/pseuds/jetblock
Summary: Seamus was not having good summer to say the least. His plans for space camp were trashed thanks to his overbearing father, and now he was stuck in Arcadia. Turns out he's not the only one stuck somewhere they don't want to be, as Krel struggles to come up with a way to fix their grounded ship, and get off-planet. Summer vibes all around.Diverges from canon past s2ep2
Relationships: Aja Tarron & Krel Tarron, Seamus Johnson & Steve Palchuck, Seamus Johnson/Krel Tarron
Comments: 27
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> no beta read, we die like the dumbasses we are
> 
> as always, please tell me if you spot a mistake
> 
> also title based on this [song](https://youtu.be/sz7AHzF-M8w) that I've had repeat for the past few days

Summer in Arcadia Oaks was two things: insufferably warm and boring. Well at least for Seamus it was. School had ended about a week ago, and that meant he had three months absolutely free to do whatever he wanted to do. Three months to waste away in space camp, working side by side with professionals of the field, learning stuff he wanted to learn. Kinda nerdy, but it was also three months away from his dad’s rules and bullshit. Three months for him to express himself without the disapproving stare of his father bringing him down. Well that _was_ the plan, but the world had decided that Seamus was not done being tortured just yet.

The last day of school had passed smoothly, teachers were absolutely done with the year and had just played movies all day as the students had passed yearbooks around for others to sign, while hyping themselves up for the upcoming Battle of the Bands. The Battle of the Bands itself was going on well, most of the town had shown up, students and adults alike all cheering on the performances of the contestants. Most of the performances were good, if not decent, but before the last few acts got on stage, absolute bedlam ensued.

A beam of light had shot through the sky with a boom, and smoke turned the whole world dark. The sun itself was covered by what looked to be an eclipse, even though the next eclipse wasn't in a long time. Not to say about the massive stone creatures that appeared all throughout town, laying waste to anything on their path. Panic quickly spread all over, as people rushed to any cover they could find. It was a blurry couple of hours for Seamus, if he was being honest. Fear tainted his memory, until it made any event that happened extremely difficult for him to recall. He did remember how he rushed to his house, running past the creatures faster than he thought he was capable of. His mother was at the house, and they both bunked out in their basement, careful of keeping quiet lest they got discovered. His phone was bombarded with calls and texts from his friends, but mostly from his dad, who had gone to his job earlier on in the day. Checking his voicemail proved that his dad was indeed okay, as what he could make out with all the noise, and that he along with some of his coworkers were hiding in some sort of warehouse. As much as Seamus disliked his dad, he didn't want his father to get killed. The rest of the voicemail mail were from Steve and Logan, each wondering if he was still alive. Nice that they cared.

The resulting hours were spent with him and his mother listening to the radio, as the host described some of the mess that was going on outside. They stayed like that until they heard the news that the crazy light shooting from the canals had gone away, along with most of the stone creatures. People slowly resurfaced from their hiding spots, as paramedics rushed to help those in need. Police units and firefighters were also scrambling to clear the debris left behind, the whole town looking like some sort of post-apocalyptic scene from a movie. It was a stressful past week to say the least, everyone had joined in on repairs, all while rumours of what really happened that day flew everywhere. The town council had thrown a meeting, where the whole town had shown up. A few of the remaining trolls,as they had described themselves, had shown up, to explain to the best of their abilities what really had happened. It was bizarre to be honest, Seamus never believed in the supernatural or mythical creatures, and to be confronted with undeniable proof that magic in general and trolls existed was a little unnerving. What else was next? Aliens? According to the meeting, the “official” cause of all the destruction was an unexpected earth-quake. This was obviously an attempt to hide the existence of trolls, as no one wanted the government to snoop in, and so the whole town pledged silence to the whole thing.

Naturally after the whole chaos, his father had become paranoid. His already insufferable rules turned even more insufferable, as he had basically confined Seamus to his quarters. His plan to go to space camp for the summer was thrown out the window, and now he laid in his room cursing the whole world. He was periodically interrupted from his misery, as Steve sended him text after text to distract him from his boredom. It was interesting how much Steve cared lately, at the start of the year he and Steve were casual friends to be honest. He was part of Steve’s little gang of bullies, although he never really had laid a hand on anyone, Steve was the one that chose to use physical force to push people around while he stayed in the sidelines, keeping watch for any teachers that could get them in trouble. It wasn't really any better to be a bystander, but he was spared from detentions while he gained status just by associating with Steve. Status that allowed him to survive highschool without anybody bothering him, lest they crossed paths with the rest of his buddies. It all changed somewhere in the second semester, when Steve had become quiet all of a sudden. He slowly stopped pushing people around, and was instead seen hanging around Eli, one of his former victims. The change was not gone unnoticed, as rumors about what could have led the change spread around like the flu. Steve had gone from this big macho persona, to rather being bffs with geek lord Eli Pepperjack in the blink of an eye. Most were understandably weirded out by such development, and stopped hanging out with him altogether, while Seamus and Logan remained. Seamus wasn't really sure why he’d remained, but he’d known Steve for most of his life, and he was generally curious of Steve’s growth. The change in Steve’s attitude was further shown when he started dating Aja Tarron.

Now having grown out of his rather toxic attitude, Steve showed more of his kinder and gentler side to his older friends, as he showed his concern and was always down to hang around as they had mindless fun. In the past couple of months Steve had turned into a completely loyal and protective, and all around better friend. Who knew Steven Q. Palchuk, Arcadia Oak’s High most notorious bully, was a big softie inside all along?

Seamus was rather jealous of Steve if he was honest. He was able to overcome his toxic mentality that was integrated in his head as a child by his father, and had accepted himself and had gained friends that stood by his side, not to say he had an amazing partner that truly cared for him. So yeah, he was a little jealous. What did Seamus have? An overbearing father that was constantly disappointed with every decision Seamus made, not to say a ruined summer. 

Tearing away from his thoughts he turned to his phone, looking at the new text Steve sent him. As much as he wanted to continue cursing his dad, he was thankful for the distraction. If there was anything Seamus respected from Steve before his personal growth, was how he was able to understand Seamus’s issues with his dad. Turned out they both had daddy issues, fun.

_Bow2TheKing: get ur ass up, i am not leaving you to mope in ur room for the whole summer._

_Bow2TheKing: ill be there in 5mins_

_OceanMan: What part of i'm confined to my room do you not understand?? If i want to mope i’ll mope. Besides, my dad would kill me if he finds out im gone._

_Bow2TheKing: fuck ur dad, ur coming with me and we gon have a good time. fuck ur bad vibes._

_Bow2TheKIng: also this isnt ur 1st time sneaking out wtf u acting so dramatic_

_OceanMan: What a great influence that you are. What would the children think?_

_Bow2TheKing: fuck them_

_Bow2TheKing: also im already here_

Steve’s text was accompanied by the sound of a car honk seconds after, solidifying the fact that Steve truly was outside. Seamus peeled himself from his bed, gathering his things to get ready. He collected a few cushions and crumpled up shirts to form a lump in his bed, and shaped it to match his form. He had to be creative to perfect the art of sneaking out, so he had a lot of props to use at his disposal littering his room. Grabbing a blond wig he got from halloween two years ago, he completed his look-alike dummy and climbed outside from his window.

Once he reached the muddy grass, he closed the window partially, making sure to leave enough room so he could fit his hand through. Once finished he booked it to where Steve was waiting. Steve, like always, had brought his vespa along. Looking up from his phone, Steve threw one of his extra helmets towards Seamus, who caught it mid-air, already used to this routine. 

“Finally! I was convinced you fell asleep or something,” Steve said as Seamus put on his helmet, receiving a half-hearted grunt in return. Safety first as the adults say. “C’mon hurry up already! The others are waiting for us”.

“Others? Where exactly are we going?” Seamus asked as he climbed into the vespa behind Steve, lazily placing his hands on the other’s shoulders. Normally such a position would be embarrassing, but Seamus really didn’t want to become a splat in the concrete as Steve really wasn't that good of a driver. This was the same man that had crashed a brand new vespa into a tree, and got a concussion as a result. Not to say it was pitch dark outside, and not many people roamed the streets at this hour.

“Don’t worry about it, it's a surprise. Besides you know the others, so it should be fun.” Steve replied as his vespa roared to life, with a launch forward.

“Oh goodie” came Seamus's sarcastic response. Nothing good ever came from Steve’s ‘surprises’. But still, it was better than being stuck in his room.

“Shut your trap, we are going somewhere fun and that’s all you need to know. Now hold on, we’re already late as it is”- was Seamus only warning before they took off. The ride was a nice breath of fresh air, aside Steve almost crashing a couple times. They rode past the suburbs until reaching the town center, or as they all called it the ‘downtown’. All of the interesting things to do in Arcadia were located in that area, as well as any mainstream brand store. They stopped in front of the town’s best arcade, bowling, and party center, according to Yelp.

“The arcade? I didn’t bring any money Steve”

“Don’t sweat it, I know your broke ass and brought enough for the both of us. Consider it my ‘sorry your plans for the summer got ruined’ gift, you don't have to pay me back also”

“How thoughtful”, Seamus hummed as they both stepped inside. It was dark inside, with the only lighting coming from the neon lights from the ceiling. The smell of pizza and popcorn carried in the air, and the sounds of bowling balls hitting bowling pins mixed with the screams of children and the pop music blasting from the speakers. A huge contrast with the peace and quiet of his room. Steve led him past the main entrance, where a line was starting to form, and past the bowling alley. They continued to walk until they reached the area the tables were, many littered with food from past patrons and a few stragglers, no doubt guarding their table while their friends raided the games. The dining area overlooked the bowling alley, the bar, and the game section, leaving it in a perfect position to see the surrounding chaos. They reached a table near the corner, where a small group of familiar teenagers laid huddled together.

“Seamus you remember my girlfriend Aja,”- Steve pointed towards the tall, enthusiastic girl, who waved excitedly towards him before returning to inspect her neon green drink. -”Eli and Toby,”- He continued, gesturing towards the two shorter boys who were currently inhaling their food. -” And Krel!” Steve finished, as Seamus turned to nod at the last boy.

Krel was slouched in his seat, ever present grumpy look on his face as he played with his pizza slice, as he gave Seamus a soft humm in greeting. If Seamus was being honest, Krel Tarron was an enigma in his life. The boy had appeared out of nowhere into the school, had surpassed Seamus in his classes in record time, sassed him whenever Seamus confronted him about it, and had given up the grade he had rightfully earned just to help Seamus get to space camp, with the reasoning that he’d heard that ‘space was nice’, while all Seamus did was accuse him cheating and being a ‘buttsnack’, as Steve would describe it. Krel was weird, but everything was weird in Arcadia, to be honest. Maybe this was his chance to properly apologize for his rather xenophobic behavior. Seamus had no real excuse for his past actions, as he had acted out in the way his father would’ve of even when he knew that it was wrong and hurtful. Huh, guess this really was the year of self-growth. He also really wanted to congratulate Krel on his performance for the Battle of the Bands.

“We all agreed to pepperoni pizza, I hope that’s alright with you. Also I ordered you pepsi. Also we have free refills on drinks and pizza” Steve informed him as he took a seat next to Aja. Seamus took a seat besides Krel, as it was the only one available.

“That's fine,” Seamus responded, feeling a little bit out of place. He had hung out a few times with Aja and Eli before, as both were close to Steve, but he really didn’t know anything about Toby and Krel. Social interaction wasn’t really his forte. His food was a little bit cold and most of the ice cubes had melted in his drink, but he ate both anyway. He had skipped dinner, as Seamus didn't want to deal with his father anymore than he had to.

Small idle chatter filled the table, with Seamus joining in from time to time when he saw necessary. Toby and Eli were rambling on about having a laser tag match and hitting the games, while Steve was going on about having a bowling match first, with Aja joining him as she was curious on what bowling was, while Krel kept silent as he did god knows what with his phone. It was weird, Krel had kept his silence and only hummed when Seamus, or anyone tried to start a conversation with him. Maybe he was still mad about the math duel? He noticed that he wasn't the only one with concern about Krel’s behavior, as he saw Aja glance multiple times towards her brother, eyes full of concern. She lightly elbowed at Steve's side, and gestured towards Krel at Steve’s questioning stare. Understanding showed in his features, and he got up from the table.

“Well, Krel and Seamus, what do you guys think? Should we hit the bowling alley first or the game section? You two are the deciding votes.” Steve spoke loudly, as he successfully gained both boys attention.

“I say games first,” Seamus responded first, “I just ate, and I don’t really feel like throwing bowling balls around just yet.”

“I agree with Seamus,” Krel's response came seconds later, as he finally put his phone down. Seamus saw as Aja bumped her fist, as she celebrated successfully getting her brother to join the group.

“Aww boo, you guys just can’t handle the fact that I'm the king in bowling, and that I would have kicked all of your butts in the court.” Steve argued half-heartedly, since there was an ever growing smile in his face.

“C’mon Steve, we’ll play some games, then we can go bowling so you can kick our butts”, Eli laughed as he got up. “Which we can retaliate by kicking your butt in laser tag.” He laughed before running off with Toby before Steve had any time to process what he said.

Laughing at the scene, Seamus along with the others got up as they made their way towards the game section. Steve, finally having caught what Eli said, took off in search of them, with Aja behind him as the sea of people consumed them. Seamus took off in search of his favorite game, when he noticed Krel following him around like a lost puppy, apprehension in his eyes as he took in the crowd of yelling children and teenagers. Taking pity, Seamus called out to him while gesturing for him to join him.

“Hey you okay man?” Seamus asked once Krel had catched up, narrowly doding past a child that had come out of nowhere. “I don’t want to be nosy, but you don’t look so good.”

“What? Oh- yeah I'm good, yeah” His accented voice cracked slightly, which he cleared with a cough. He seemed to be surprised at Seamus’s concern. “I just have a lot in my mind right now. Don’t worry, you're not being ‘nosy’ as you say.”

Seamus sofly hummed in reply, his features brightening up as he finally found the game he was looking for. Turning back to Krel he gestured for the other to follow as Seamus picked up his pace. When they reached the game, it was free from any other people, and Seamus silently spoke his gratitude as he picked up one of the cheap plastic toy guns that were connected to the machine. 

“Here, catch-” he said before throwing Krel one of the guns. He caught it before it crashed with his chest, throwing Seamus a questioning glance before inspecting the object in his hands.

“Ever played this before?” Seamus asked before swiping his game card twice in the card reader, paying for the both of them. He grinned at Krel as the screen turned to the game menu.

“No, I don’t believe I have”, Krel said as he curiously looked at the screen and the game art surrounding it. “Gun Robot: The Game”, he read the title out loud to himself, looking back at Seamus with a slightly confused look in his eyes. “What is it?”

“Well, it’s a video game. You use that fake gun there, and aim at the enemies on the screen, using the trigger to fire. The objective is simple; you shoot everything making sure not to get hit, since if you lose all your health, it's game over. Easy.” Seamus replied, as he pushed the giant red button with the words ‘begin’ printed on it.

“C’mon, it’s about to start!” He said as a giant timer appeared on screen, counting down from three.

“Wait- no, I’m not ready!” Krel scrambled to get his gun in position, “I don’t know all the parameters yet-” He said before being interrupted by the game blasting the words “FIRE”, and hell breaking loose as swarms of enemy robots appeared on screen.

Seamus laughed at Krel’s attempts to fire at the enemies back, but he was failing so badly as he was at half health already, and a minute hadn't even passed.

“Concentrate Krel!” He laughed when Krel attempted to use a grenade, which completely missed all the enemies. “Take a breath, and let loose!”

It seemed that Seamus advice had worked, as he heard Krel take a deep breath before joining back in. This time he successfully shot any enemies in his side of the screen without losing any health. Seamus cheered Krel’s small victory, and continued to focus on his end of the screen, all while yelling fun insults towards the enemies on screen. Now with both boys concentrated, they flew through the game’s levels, until they reached the final boss. It was fun, Seamus thought. He’d never been able to get anywhere close to actually beating the game, but with Krel at his side they actually had a chance of actually doing it. It was the most fun he’d had since the beginning of the summer.

“Yeah dude! That’s what i'm talking about!” Seamus cheered as they struck the final blow to the boss, effectively beating the game. He turned around to bump fists with Krel, when he froze up taking the scene in front of him. Krel’s hair was messy, and part of it was covering his face. He was pushing up the stray strands of hair, as he was looking at Seamus with a look of pure joy. His eyes reflected the colorful lights from the surrounding arcade games, contrasting with the deep brown of his irises. His lips were parted slightly, showing the white of his teeth, as he grinned back at him. Seamus only had one thought in his mind as he stared like a moron; Krel Tarron was extremely pretty.

_Wait, what?_

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee-haaw partners, enjoy a new chapter!!
> 
> Also for those wandering where this story takes place; it takes place after ep 2 of season 2 and diverges from cannon onward.

Krel had about a million things running through his mind for him to care about some silly group hangout. He needed to fix so many things in the Mothership, find a safe way for them to reach the Resistance, avoid anymore Bounty Hunters that could find them, and find a way for them to return to their home planet. So yeah, hanging out with their human acquaintances wasn’t really his top priority at the moment. If things ever happened the way he wanted then he wouldn't be in this mess, but after finally caving in to Aja’s pleads that they both needed a break, he was currently located in what was rather the noisiest place in the universe. The ‘arcade’, as it was called by the locals, was filthy, as organic compounds that the humans consumed littered the tables and the floor, making the whole place smell of the grease the humans cooked their food in. Small human children ran everywhere, with exhausted parents running after them, while human adolescents also ran this way and that way. The humans' yells combined with the loud earth music gave him a small headache, as he wasn't used to being in such an environment. He would rather be in his lab back in the ship, actually being productive. But he supposed his current situation wasn’t all bad, as he was currently having a surprising number of fun playing the earthen video game with Seamus. 

He was surprised to see Seamus here at first. He knew that Seamus was friends with the oaf that was Steve, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to see him, even after Steve had said he would bring an extra friend to join them. He felt a little bit out of his element when Seamus had first tried to start a conversation with him a while ago, so he responded with the humms that others had said to him when he first tried to make friends with the humans in his educational prison, as he didn’t really trust himself to speak actual words towards Seamus. It was weird, the blond had mostly ignored him after the math duel, and they hadn't seen each other after the Battle of the Bands. So for him to show a sudden concern towards Krel’s wellbeing was surprising. Krel didn’t want to get his hopes up, but there was a small spark of hope in his core towards the opportunity of actually getting to be friends with Seamus.

They both laughed and cheered as they defeated the game’s boss, and they revelled in their glorious victory. Krel was a little out of breath as his body shook slightly due to the adrenaline buzzing in his core, making his hair fall down in front of his face, impairing his vision. It was slightly annoying, how his soft hair in his human form fell down constantly, as compared to his coarse hair in his akiridion form that regained whatever shape he stylized it as. Pushing his hair out of the way, he turned towards Seamus, who had exclaimed something he didn't quite catch.

Turning, he saw how Seamus stood there, gaping at him as if he’d grown an extra head. It was interesting how humans were able to change their skin color slightly, he mused while looking at Seamus reddened face. Humans face’s were so expressive, their features were always shifting as they experienced the varied amount of human emotions. Even their eyes reflected whatever emotions they felt clearly, without any sort of filter. Seamus eyes currently reflected something Krel wasn't able to recall, as he was still learning the complicated emotions that came from being human. He didn't know what it was, but his core sparked with a warm feeling in return, making him smile even wider. Aja was right -not that he would ever tell her that- he really did need a break, as he could feel himself relax in a way he wasn't to ever since Omen had attacked them. 

Taking Seamus by his forearm, he pulled him to the other games, wanting to ride out the strange new feeling as long as he could.

“Lets go check out the other games,” Krel laughed as he pulled him towards what appeared to be a table with neon lights, which highlighted a score-board.

Having snapped out of his small trance, Seamus followed suit, only tripping on his own steps a few times. Once having reached the table, Krel turned towards Seamus, awaiting his explanation of the game. Krel noticed how he looked a little bit flustered, no doubt from being dragged rather unceremoniously across the room. He shot him a sheepish smile, hoping he understated his silent apology. Seamus blinked a few times, before realization showed in his features, and he cleared his throat.

“This here is what we call air hockey,” Seamus started, and Krel noticed how he forced his voice to sound deeper than it really was. Strange, but he decided to think nothing of it. “Rules are simple; we each stand on opposite sides of the table, each with our own space that we must stay on, dictated by that big red light in the middle. You use the mallet, or that weirdly shaped thing there with the handle, to push the puck into the opposite goal, which is this small space here. Person with the highest score wins.” Seamus ended his explanation, glancing towards Krel to make sure he got all that. At Krel’s confirmatory nod, he swiped his card again to the reader. Krel wasn't sure what the flimsy plastic cards did, but every human he’d observed did the same action which activated the machines in return. The table started to make a strange noise, as it sounded like it was releasing air. His assumption proved correct, as Krel could feel a slight breeze coming from the small holes that scattered the table. He watched as Seamus pulled a puck from a lower compartment and placed it in the middle, causing it to drift slightly. Now he understanded why it was called ‘air hockey’.

“You ready?” Seamus asked as he got into position on one end of the table, one hand clutching the mallet. Krel mimicked his actions, throwing Seamus a smirk just for good measure.

“Ready as I’ll ever be” Krel responded, feeling excitement beginning to flow again in his body. Seamus stared at him for a sekton, before looking down with a determined look as he started to count down from 5.

As he finished counting, Krel watched as his hand suddenly launched forwards the puck, the impact launching the pluck across the table and straight into his goal. The score-board flashed as it changed to show the new score, while a sound effect that sounded like a trumped ran out through the air. Krel really needed to work on his reaction time, he thought as he stared dumbly at where the puck was laying a one sekton ago.

“Pfft, I thought you said you were ready!” Seamus laughed, both at what had happened and at Krel’s surprised face.

“I was! I just didn’t think it was possible for a human to be able to move that fast!” Krel exclaimed, scrambling to gather the remains of his broken pride as Seamus continued to laugh. He had to admit, the human had a contagious laugh as he found himself laughing along. He noticed that the puck had fallen into a similar compartment that Seamus took it out in the beginning, and placed it again where he’d seen the blond do so in the start. 

“Alright, let’s try that again,” He said as he got once again into position, “this time I’m ready.”

They both started to countdown, and once they reached the last number they both lunged forward, the combined forces launching the poor puck off bouncing from the walls of the table. Krel wasn’t as competitive as Aja, but playing this ‘air hockey’ brought out his more competitive nature, as he concentrated on making the human infront of him ‘eat dirt’. Who knew such a simple and primitive game could be so much fun? And surprisingly violent. Seamus had pushed the puck with so much force, it had flown out the table, its trajectory clear to hit some poor unsuspecting person. 

Luckily it was caught by Steve before anyone was subject to slight head trauma. Apparently during their little match, they had attracted a small crowd, in which the rest of their group were present.

“Careful there, you almost gave someone a concussion with that thing dude!” Steve reprimanded, before breaking into more laughter along with the rest of their group.

“Sorry man, but you were in the splash zone,” Seamus retorted, although he had a sheepish look in his face, “that was the deciding score!” 

Indeed it was, as they were in a tie at the moment, and according to Seamus next score was the winning one.

“Guess you're gonna have to call it a tie, c’mon it's time to hit the bowling alley next!” Steve said before grabbing Seamus and restraining him in a headlock as he ran his hand through Seamus short hair. Krel had learned that Steve did said gesture every time he was excited, as Krel had fallen victim to it a couple times before. 

Chuckling at Seamus’ attempts to escape Steve, the group left the game section in order to walk to the bowling section. Krel noticed how Aja slowed her pace to walk besides him, a ‘shit-eating’ grin on her face, as he’d heard the others call it.

“Soo, little brother, having fun?” She asked, glee on her round eyes.

Krel normally would never confess when Aja was right on something, especially on something that involved him, so he chose his words carefully, making sure she didn't get as much satisfaction to learn that she was right, _again_.

“Perhaps… I’m having as much ‘fun’ as one could with such primitive devices.” Krel said, making sure to keep looking forward, schooling his features to keep a neutral expression. Aja could sniff out one of his lies a mile away, and he learned that his human disguise didn't disguise his emotions very well. What was the point of a disguise if it failed on its primary function? Curse these human emotions.

“Really? You looked to be having a lot of fun with the Seamus back there,” she chuckled, as her eyes narrowed and she adopted a mischievous look, “You may try to hide it, but your eyes betray you little brother. I told you so~” She said, dragging the last syllable just to rub it in his face. Damn it.

“Alright fine, you win. You were right all along, I did need a break,” Krel relented while smiling fondly at Aja’s antics. He was never able to hide anything from her. “But for the record, I still think it would be more productive to continue working on repairs for the Mothership.”

“Come on Krel! All work and no play is bad, as the humans say. Besides you seem to be making friends with Seamus! From what I’ve observed he seems to really like you!” She gestured to said blond, who had finally escaped Steve’s affectionate gesture. Upon crossing eyes with Krel he shot him a nervous smile, his face beginning to turn red again. Human reactions were so interesting, Krel pondered as he watched Seamus scrambling to fix his messy short hair while he laughed nervously. The same warm feeling from before sparked in his core, and Krel smiled again. Maybe this was how it felt to make a friend by his own volition?

“Maybe… I don’t know yet.” Krel responded slowly, turning towards Aja for advice. She was the more social out of the two, and had already made her own human friends, so she was the expert in this case, unfortunately.

“Well you won't know if you just keep standing there! Go on!” She told him, before pushing him towards Seamus, who was messing with his phone.

Giving Aja one last glance, he gathered his wits and walked up towards the blonde, slight anxiousness forming in his core. He was Prince Krel from House Tarron, king-in-waiting of one of the most technologically advanced planets of the seven galaxies, he could easily walk up to a biological and make friends with said biological. Easy as flexel. Or at least it should be.

Seklos and Gaylen, this dump-heap planet was going to be the death of him.

* * *

Seamus was freaking out. He had absolutely no idea what had possessed him earlier on. He had just stood there staring at Krel, making a clown of himself as he was hypnotized by how pretty he was. His face had heated up so much, he was convinced he had looked like a tomato at that moment. It wasn’t his fault! The adrenaline had messed up with his thoughts or something! Yeah, Krel was an aesthetically good looking dude, he could admit that, but Seamus didn’t like him like that! Nuh-huh, no way!.... God, even a cockroach could see how far in denial he was. He was just a bigger clown for trying to hide it, how sad.

Okay, fine. Maybe he _had_ a small little crush on Krel, but it was miniscule really, nothing that would hinder his daily life. Scratch that, he wasn't a clown, he was the entire goddamn circus. His ‘small and miniscule’ crush had in fact gotten in the way, as he constantly got flustered and nervous when he made eye contact with Krel, or whenever Krel smiled at him. How pathetic could he get?

Luckily Krel didn't seem to notice his little slip-ups, or else he would’ve died right there and there. Seamus didn't know what to do, he never had an actual crush on someone before, so why did his dumb brain decide to have a crush on Krel Tarron of all people?! It had never crossed his mind to think he liked boys, and now here he was having a life-crisis over a boy. If only his father could see him now.

He was interrupted from his small breakdown by the sound of someone clearing their throat close to him. _Please don’t be him, please don’t be him, please don't be him-_

“Soo bowling huh? What exactly is it?” 

_Fuck_

Seamus turned around, giving Krel what he hoped was an easy-going smile. He really was going to die here, wasn't he? Krel looked to be a little bit nervous, and Seamus felt his heart drop. _OHMY GOD, HE KNOWS!_

“Does it include physical labor? I remember you saying how you didnt feel like throwing ‘bowling balls’ around earlier,” Krel rambled on, completely oblivious of Seamus’ mini heart attack. “I’ll admit I don’t really like throwing objects around, but Steve seems genuinely excited for it, so I’ll give it a try. What do you think?” Krel finished, smiling innocently at Seamus.

God, he really was pretty- No! Focus! He could play this cool, he just needed to look at anything else that wasn’t his pretty brown eyes- Fuck!

“Umm, well-” Seamus cleared his throat, biting down the voice crack that threatened to escape,”-bowling is considered to be a sport by some, although I consider it more of a hobby.” Okay, so far so good, he could do this!

“You see those balls over there? You used them to knock down the pins on the other side of the lane. The objective is to knock down as many as you can,” Seamus explained, slowly regaining his confidence as he continued. He watched as Krel listened carefully to every word he said, and he could feel himself heating up again from being watched so attentively.

“Come on, I’ll tell you more about it when we get there,” He said, as he noticed that they’ve fallen behind the rest of the group. Toby and Eli had already gotten their bowling shoes, and were now trying out the different weights of the balls, while Steve and Aja were at the desk, no doubt waiting for their own pair of shoes.

He led Krel towards the counter, where Steve was telling Aja something before looking up at them.

“Finally, sure took your sweet time there didn't ya?” Steve teased as Aja chuckled lightly. “Toby already found us a sweet lane for us to play in, while you two were off in la-la land!”

“Ha-ha, very funny.” Seamus said, sticking his tongue out towards him. Steve’s little teases were definitely not wanted right now. He ordered his shoes, prompting Krel to do the same.

“Hurry it up over there!” They heard Toby exclaim, gesturing at them from one end of the alley.

“Coming! Keep it chill T.P!” Steve yelled out after him, grinning at the glare that Toby gave him for calling him that.

Taking their shoes from the counter, they regrouped with the two shorter boys who had selected a small group of differently weighted balls for them. Choosing the one they felt comfortable with throwing, they divided into groups of twos, and lucky he, he got grouped with Krel. Seamus was too tired to fight it. It was fun, apart from his little hiccups whenever Krel smiled too brightly towards him, or cheered when they got a strike or spare. It was entertaining teaching the basic rules to Krel, and watching him fumble with his bowling ball for the first few turns. They did well, considering it was Krel’s first time playing. They had even tied with Toby and Eli when they counted points. Of course, they were absolutely crushed by Aja and Steve, who either got straight strikes or spares each turn. It was scary how good they worked together, not to say of their combined physical strength.

Currently they were sitting down in the small, tall tables around their lane, each taking a small break after such an intense match. He was sitting next to Krel, who was stretching his arms, while he drank from his pepsi.

“Ugh, I don't know how you people do that as a sport, my arms feel like they're about to fall down” Krel complained, as he shook his arms towards Seamus for emphasis. ”Ay, ay, ay.”

“What? Not used to throwing a 10 pound ball around?” Seamus laughed, enjoying Krel’s small antics.

“Absolutely not. I’m above such behavior. The only way you’ll find me carrying something heavier than 5 ‘pounds’ is when i'm carrying Luug out of my bed.” Krel said, grinning slightly as he lifted his chin to the ceiling.

“Luug?” Seamus asked curiously.

“My- uh, dog. He likes to sleep in my bed sometimes, no matter how much I tell him not to.” Krel responded. He seemed unsure when he did so, but Seamus thought nothing of it.

“You have a dog? That’s nice. I’ve always wanted a dog, but my dad hates them. The most he would let me keep is a fish. Got a Betta fish in my room right now, Orion, had him for six years now.”

“Really? I'm not sure what a ‘Betta fish’ is, but he sounds nice.” Krel responded, looking pensive as he did so. “Speaking of your father, what ever happened to space camp?”

Seamus let out a tired sigh before responding, “Well, after the whole ‘almost-apocalypse’ that happened in the last day of school, he forbade me from going, lest I get eaten by a troll or something. It’s stupid, even after you sacrificed the grade you had rightfully earned. Sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one in need of it.” Krel said, looking slightly perplexed. “Though I am sorry you had to miss space camp.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s cool.” Seamus said, giving Krel a slight pat on his shoulder. “Although I do wish my dad would lay off once in a while.”

Seamus sighed again. It was now or never.

“Actually Krel, I’ve wanted to apologize to you for how I treated you before. I had no right to accuse you of cheating, dragging you to a dumb math duel, and having you to deal with my dad’s bullshit. You never deserved that.” He said, hoping Krel could see all the regret he felt when he thought about his past actions. “I'm sorry.”

Krel was silent for a moment, looking intensely at him with those brown eyes that pierced through his soul, deep in thought. After a moment, he closed them as he looked forwards, humming softly. 

“It’s true that you were a real ‘buttsnack’, but I can’t really blame you for being intimidated by my superior intellect,” he said, a smile beginning to tuck at his lips, “But I’m glad you see the error of your ways. I forgive you, Seamus Johnson. But you still have to make it up to me for making me deal with your soolian father.”

Seamus laughed then, his shoulders feeling lighter than ever. When he first met Krel his attitude and his weird insults annoyed him, but now he found them endearing. Funny how things change with time. He stuck his hand out towards him, determined to be friends with the boy.

“It’s a deal then. Nice to meet you, Krel Tarron. Friends?”

Krel smiled at him then. A smile so wide, that it blinded Seamus with its joy. His eyes radiating pure happiness. He took his hand, and Seamus’ brain focused on how his soft and cool hands contrasted with his warm and rough ones. If Seamus thought Krel was pretty before, he was dead-drop gorgeous now.

“Friends”

  
  
  
  


  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEEAAAHHH!!! Im all about that character growth, I eat that shit for breakfast!!
> 
> Sorry if its too cheesy, but im just a dumbass non-binary bisexual who longs for another.
> 
> I should probably update my other fic, but I have the attention span of a peanut and I can only focus on one thing at a time lmao


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time around sorry 'bout that.  
> I know I been updating this almost daily but I have 0 impulse control lol

Krel’s core was practically vibrating with pure joy, so much so that it threatened to burst from his chest. He was already happy when Seamus had apologized, that he even managed to forget the sore feeling that came from his arms. But when he offered to be friends, Krel basically exploded. It was silly for him to get so excited, but he couldn’t help it. After parsons on this dump-heap he was finally able to get one of its inhabitants to be friends with him, without help from any outside forces. It brought him the same feeling of happiness that he’d felt when he finally made his mark in the Battle of the Bands. His current fleshy cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

After he and Seamus shook hands, they were interrupted by Eli, as he announced that it was now time for them to have a match of ‘laser tag’. Glancing at the other for confirmation, who chuckled softly in return, they accompanied Eli towards said tag of lasers. Krel failed to understand why a game of tag involving lasers would excite the other, as Krel’s past experiences with lasers only taught him that they hurt when contact was made. But he learned that these weren’t real lasers, and were harmless to the touch. A bit contradictory in his opinion, but if there was anything Krel had learned during his stay on Earth was that humans themselves were full of contradictions.

The game itself was fun. The room where it took place was illuminated by ultraviolet lights, called black lights by the humans, the lights causing fluorescent colors to glow. Krel wondered if his Akiridion form would change if illuminated by one of the lights, though he doubted it, as he already had a natural glow in said form. Unlike the rest of the games they’ve played so far, they played this one individually. Not that it mattered as they had all teamed up to gang on Steve. A little revenge never hurt anyone. After Steve was subjected to their vengeance they split off, each for their own. Krel had a little difficulty navigating the place at first. Unlike on Akiridion-5, that was constantly illuminated, some places on Earth tented to get extremely dark, leaving Krel to struggle for a few mekrons before his eyes adapted. Fortunately he knew a thing or two about evading enemy fire, after so many attacks by the Zerons. Ultimately he still got hit by the fake lasers by a smirking short haired, freckled blonde. Traitor. Krel could tell that Aja was having a blast, as he could hear her cackles echo from the walls. Figures she would enjoy a recreational shooting game. Surprisingly Aja was not the victor of the game, as Eli of people turned out to have the highest number of points. Krel suspected that his small frame had allowed him to sneak up to them without them noticing until it was too late.

Currently the group was outside, as closing hours of the arcade reached them and they were kicked out. Krel had a fun and relaxing night, if he was being honest. He was able to clear his mind from the stress that came from having to fix a grounded ship. He still wasn’t sure how in Seklos they had managed to convince Zadra to allow them to come here tonight, as the last time they had ‘hanged out’ with their friends, they had actually planned a rescue party that took them all the way to the moon. They were bidding goodbye to Steve and Seamus, who lived in another part of the suburbs and therefore had to take another route than the rest of them. While Seamus waited for Steve to say goodbye to Aja, he came closer to Krel, a nervous look on his face.

“Hey Krel… I was wondering if I could have your phone number-” he mumbled, his eyes darting around, never once crossing his. Odd. “-I mean, if that’s cool with you, and whatnot.”

“Sure,” Krel said, taking Seamus’ phone from his hand, placing in his number, “Here.”

“Cool, thanks dude!” Seamus smiled, sending him a quick emoji in confirmation. Krel saved the number under his contacts. He didn’t have many contacts, so it made him happy to add one more to his small collection, he even put it under his favorites.

“Stay still real quick,” Krel said as he pulled out his camera, snapping a quick shot of Seamus for his contact photo. His brows were up, as he was caught mis-surprise. “Done!”

“What? -wait no! I wasn’t ready!” Seamus exclaimed, trying to snatch Krel’s phone. “Take another one!”

“Sorry, but my phone only has so much space-” Krel laughed, evading Seamus attempts to steal his phone. This was an obvious lie, as Krel had upgraded his phone earlier to have the same amount of power as an Earthen supercomputer. Not as much as he’d liked but it did its job. Besides, what Seamus didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. “- don’t worry, you look fine! Promise!”

Seamus didn’t look like he believed him, but before he could further respond he was interrupted by Steve, who announced that they had to go before he got in trouble with his father. At the mere mention of Seames’ dad, Krel saw how his whole posture grew tense and how his brow furrowed with worry. Every time the man was brought up, Krel liked him less and less.

“Ugh- Coming! See you later Krel, I have to go now before my father realizes I’m gone,” He said, giving Krel one last smile before jogging up to Steve, putting up an extra helmet and climbing on Steve’s vespa. “Don’t think you’re in the clear though!” He said before Steve took off, and Krel watched them leave, a smile on his face.

“C’mon little brother, you’re going to get left behind.” He heard Aja say next to him. Turning, he did see how they were a few steps behind Toby and Eli. Picking up his pace, he reflected on the events of the night, his mind repeating Seamus’ words back to him. Aja’s advice earlier had worked, and the proof laid in currently on his phone, with the slightly blurry photo he’d taken.

“I say today has been a productive delson, wouldn’t you little brother?” she asked as they walked, stretching her arms lazily above her head.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He responded, while also stretching his back. That was the bad thing about the transductions, it tired them out faster than normal. “Thanks for the push, your advice worked.”

“Of course it did, as the elder child it is my job to look after you, you knucklehead.” She laughed while she ruffled his hair affectionately. “I’m happy that you made a friend, I’m so proud of you little brother!” She exclaimed before crushing him in a bear hug.

Krel laughed, pushing Aja slightly to get her off. He could always count on Aja to have his back, just as he had hers.

“Ha-ha yeah, although I'm surprised that you lost the game of tag with lasers. I expected you to win, as you have the most combat experience out of all of us.”

“I would've, but someone had the drop on me-,” she said, giving the boys in front of them a playful glare. “- Isn’t that right Eli of Pepperjacks?”

“Ha, what can I say? I told Steve I would kick his butt at laser tag, and that included all of you.” Eli laughed, but Krel could see a flash of worry in his eyes. He couldn’t blame him, Aja’s vengeance was something to be terrified of.

“It’s the quiet ones you have to keep watch of,” Toby joined in, “Eli also had the advantage of having the element of surprise. I swear dude, as soon as the lights went out you disappeared.”

“Guess my Creepslayerz training is paying off!”

Aja pounced on the poor boy then, as she yelled ‘rematch’. Eli had half a sekton to dodge Aja’s tackle, his whole face showing pure terror. The rest laughed at Eli’s attempts to evade Aja, as she cackled maniacally. She stopped chasing him as they reached the point where Eli and Toby’s path split from theirs, and she remarked that she would be back for a round two while they bid goodbye.

As they reached the Mothership, they were greeted by Luug’s joyous barks, as he ran circles at their feet when they stepped inside. Mother’s teardrop hologram appearing seconds later.

“Good night, my royals. I hope your evening with your human companions went well.” Mother’s voice echoed through the house.

“It was lively Mother! We went to an arcade, played video games, learned what ‘bowling’ is, and played tag with lasers!” Aja excitedly told Mother, her hands gesturing wildly as she did so. “Krel even made a friend, and got his number!”

“I’m happy to hear that, my royal. With who did the king-in-waiting make friends with?”

“W-”

“With the Seamus!” Aja spoke first, cutting off Krel's response. He gave her a soft glare, pouting for being cut short.

“The same Seamus that challenged the Prince to a math duel?” Mother questioned.

“Yea-”

“Sorry to interrupt-” Krel purposely cut in, not sorry at all, “- But where are Vex and Zadra?” He asked.

“Commander Zadra is currently out patrolling the perimeters, and Commander Vex is currently asleep after watching one of his ‘telenovelas’”. Mother informed him. “Commander Vex doesn’t seem to be able to wake up soon, and Commander Zadra will not return until much later. I will send her a message to inform her that you too are back, meanwhile I suggest you two get ready for bed, my royals. The constant and repeated usage of the transduction chambers has increased the required amount of horvats you need to rest for, and it is quite late. Growing adolescents such as yourselves need their rest to develop properly.”

“Alright Mother, goodnight.” They both said, and they separated to go into their respective rooms. Mother was right, Krel had noticed how he got hungry and tired more often, ever since he started using the transduction effect he had gained small traits of the species he disguised as. The most apparent trait was the production of tears when he experienced extreme emotions, as gross as it sounded. Other small traits that he had gained was the different number of emotions that the humans had. Emotions that he didn’t recognize, and therefore didn’t know what to do with. It was a little scary, how the planet slowly changed him and how it started to turn them more ‘human’. He was still an Akiridion, nothing could change that, but his very nature was malleable, as he was an energy based life form. Energy could be changed to one form to another. A simple law of science that even the humans knew.

Krel shook his head, tearing himself away from his thoughts. He didn't need to worry much, he was to get off this planet before it changed him too much, or at least he hoped he would. Turning off his disguise, he changed into the sleeping gear that Mother had fabricated for them to use while in their Akiridion form. Checking his phone as he laid in his bed, he saw how he had received a message from Seamus.

_ OceanMan: Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you. We should do it more often^ _

Krel smiled upon reading the message, his core once again giving off that same warm feeling from before.

_ dj_kleb: Now that you mention it, we’re going to have a small party at my house during the weekend. It’s the same group as today, but Darci and Mary are also going. You’re invited to join if you want to. _

_ OceanMan: Sure! I’ll love to 😊 _

_ dj_kleb: Klebtastic! I’ll send you the address. _

_ dj_kleb:  _ [ _ link _ ](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)

_ dj_kleb: Also quick question, completely unrelated to the current topic, but why the name ‘OceanMan’? _

_ OceanMan: Oh that? Some people have called me Sea-man for short before, so i just named myself OceanMan for the meme, y’know the spongebob one _

_ dj_kleb: I’m afraid I don’t know what a ‘meme’ or what a ‘spongebob’ is. _

_ OceanMan: Oh you sweet summer child _

They continued to text for a while, Seamus explaining to him what a meme was, but it just confused Krel the more he tried to. As much as Krel wanted to return to work on the Mothership to get en-route to Akiridion-5, he supposed it wasn’t that bad if he took a sekton to hang out with his new friend. With a warm smile on his face, Krel fell into the most relaxing sleep he had ever since the last day of school.

* * *

Seamus laid on his bed, unable to sleep. He had thankfully arrived home without his dad figuring out he had snuck out, and had texted with Krel until they called it a night. Now here he laid, his thoughts chasing off sleep. It was extremely late, and his eyes stung, but he could only focus on Krel’s smiling face. Just great. He grabbed his pillow, stuffing his face against it in hopes of suffocating himself to sleep.

He didn’t know what to do about his dumb crush. He’d just made friends with the guy, and here he was crushing after him. He didn’t even know if Krel liked boys as well, or anyone! Seamus didn’t want to weird Krel out, he wanted to be friends with him, but as oblivious as Krel was today, he was going to notice his behavior if he continued to act like that around him. Seamus liked having a friend that was around his level, when it came to intellect. Steve and Logan didn’t understand his passion for space, or why he even liked math. His interests were often labeled as nerdy, and although he knew that they were just teasing him, it was still annoying after a while. Krel understood him, and Seamus was able to have a smart conversation with him. He needed to hang around someone with actual brain cells once in a while.

Even  _ if _ he did have a slight chance with Krel, his father would absolutely destroy him. It was no surprise to say that his father didn’t have the best opinion of same-sex couples, and the rest of the LGBT+ community. His father always sneered when he saw two guys holding hands, even if it was platonic. If his dad even learned of Seamus’ feelings towards Krel, it was safe to bet that his corpse would be found on the ocean floor. Especially if it was Krel Tarron, the same guy that sassed his dad and almost made him pop a vein. On top of his dad’s rampant homophobia, he was also racist and xenophobic. Triple whammy.

It was okay though, all Seamus needed to do was watch himself around his dad, as long as he gave no hints of his feelings then his dad wouldn't know. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. For now he was going to bury his feelings, and continue being friends with Krel. If he found evidence of actually having a chance with him along the way, the great! But right now they were friends and nothing else. And with that, he fell into a restless sleep.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my tumblr if you want to chat or whatever  
> [ @fligshaag](https://fligshaag.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to cut this chapter as it was getting super long, enjoy anyways!
> 
> See any mistakes? Comment away to your heart's desire!
> 
> Also big thanks to all of y'all that have left comments and kudos! I love y'all!

The Tarron residency was one of the most interesting residences on the block. The house had basically appeared out of nowhere with a bang, and its residents were nothing short of peculiar. The house was in a constant state of chaos, as explosions could be heard through the street on a weekly basis. Neighbors had even made a little game between themselves, as they tried to guess what had set off said explosion of the week.

Currently the residents of la Casa Tarron were scrambling to prepare for the upcoming group of teenagers that would invade their house soon. Krel was a little bit worried to say the least. He needed to make sure everything that could possibly give away their secret was taken care off, as three people that were coming over had no clue of their true nature, and amongst them was Arcadia’s gossip machine. That meant that everything that was not of terrestrial origin needed to be hidden away. Of course, it would be easier and less stressful if _people_ cooperated. Krel thought, as he and Aja were currently trying to convince a very stubborn commander to accept their human disguise. 

Zadra was very determined that she didn’t need to undergo the transduction effect, and honestly, it was giving Krel a headache. She was dead-set on surveying the party, as humans that she didn’t personally know were coming over and she wanted to keep a vigilant eye in case any of them turned out to be a Bounty Hunter in disguise, but was hesitant to take the form of Earth's inhabitants. Krel and Aja just couldn’t understand it, wouldn’t taking the form of a human prove more useful and efficient when patrolling? The chances of her being discovered were significantly lower if she was disguised.

“C’mon Zadra! If you were in disguise then you could look out for us personally, rather than monitoring through Mother’s feed! You could also meet the rest of our human friends!” Aja exclaimed, giving Zadra her best ‘puppy-eyes’, as the humans called it. It seemed to be working, as Krel could see Zadra’s resolve beginning to crumble.

“Yeah! Besides, patrolling the neighborhood would be easier, as no human would question another of their species going out, unlike if they saw an Akiridion sneaking between houses. But hey, what do I know?” Krel pressed further on, giving her an uninterested look as he picked at his nails, a persuasive tactic used by other humans. Confronted with facts, Zadra finally relented with a sigh. Hah, was he good or what.

“Alright fine, but only since my royals insist.” Zadra said with a defeated voice, which turned to a soft smile as Aja hugged her.

“Yes! C’mon I want to see what Mother chooses for you!” Aja said happily, pulling Zadra towards the transduction chambers by the hand. Krel watched them go with a chuckle. Aja’s excited personality was contagious to say the least.

He went to his room to get changed. Mother had made them clothes, as she had informed them that they were the traditional wear for pool parties. The outfit included a pair of ‘swimming trunks’. a loose blue ‘tank top’, and a pair of plastic ‘flip flops’. Interesting choice of names, but humans named all sorts of things with strange naming patterns. Getting dressed, Krel ran through his mental checklist again. Mother had helped out a lot, as she had searched through her databases, informing them of whatever supplies they might need. She fabricated a small selection of pool supplies, from ‘sunscreen’ to ‘pool noodles’. She even made them a small shopping list of human foods, which Varvatos, accompanied by Ricky, was taking care of. Lucy was somewhere about in the house, doing a last minute sweep of the place. It was safe to say that Krel felt good about their chances that this wouldn’t end up in utter disaster. 

* * *

Seamus was currently turning his room upside down in search of his swimsuit. The blasted thing had disappeared somewhere in the void that was his drawer. It was silly getting so worked up about a small group party. He had gone to dozens of bigger parties before, but here he was, sweating bullets while he scoured through his drawers, searching for something presentable to wear. He normally didn’t care about his wardrobe or what he wore, but he wanted to impress this time. As much as he committed himself to suppressing his crush on Krel, it still managed to sneak up to him, and it was harder to do as the days passed. He texted with Krel frequently ever since they exchanged numbers, and it was extremely endearing explaining what he considered normal everyday stuff to him. Krel was extremely curious underneath his initial skepticism and sass, and Seamus could feel himself fall deeper and deeper. The foundation of his resolve was starting to crumble.

He was interrupted from his thoughts, by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He whirled around, slightly surprised by the sound, to face his father on his doorway. He had his arms crossed, the beginnings of a frown that Seamus was used to seeing tugging his brows down. Great, just what he wanted right now.

“What is all the racket up here?” His dad said, his eyes traveling through his currently messy room. Fantastic. “Why is this room a mess? It looks like a pig's den!”

“Sorry dad, I was just searching for something. I’ll put everything back, I promise.” Seamus said, keeping his voice level, no matter how frustrated he was inside. He certainly didn’t want to set off his dad now.

“Hmmph,” His dad grunted, before his eyes landed on Seamus' backpack, which was laying on his bed with a spare change of clothes halfway stuffed inside. Shoot. “What’s with the backpack? You going somewhere?”

“Oh that? Um- uh- Steve and I are going to the public pool with some friends!” Seamus scrambled for a response. If his dad knew that he was actually going to Tarron's house, he'd have a fit, and Seamus was definitely in the mood for that. He broke eye contact with his dad, as his hand made contact with his swimsuit, stuffed in a far corner of the last drawer.

“Really? And it didn’t occur to you to ask me for permission first?” His father accused him, and Seamus started to get annoyed. He didn’t want to sneak out once again, but he would if he had to. “What if I said no? What then?”

“Well I told mom earlier, and she gave me permission to go,” It was true, Seamus had informed his mother a day prior. Before his father could further argue, the beep of Steve’s vespa cut through the house. Seamus mentally thanked Steve and his good timing. “And there’s my ride! I’ll be back at noon!” He said, stuffing the rest of his stuff into his backpack, and rushing out the door as fast as he could, only stopping to say a quick goodbye to his mom.

Once he got outside he let himself take a breath, leaning on his knees. Was his dad going to be pissed once he got home? Absolutely. Did he care? Not really. Was it worth it? He was going to Krel’s house, of course it was worth it.

“Woah dude! That’s the fastest I’ve seen you rush out of your house!” Steve’s voice catched his attention, making him stand back to his full height. Steve was already in his swimsuit, wearing a pair of light blue shorts that matched his pastel yellow tank top. “What? Your father didn’t agree with you going out?” He asked.

“You know how he is,” Seamus responded with a tired sigh, as he climbed onto the vespa, declining the helmet that Steve offered him. The sun was merciless today, and Seamus didn’t want his head to cook under the thick helmet. Unsafe, but such was the life in California. “I was able to avoid his next rant thanks to your good timing.”

“You’re welcome, the Palchuck is always at your service,” Steve responded as he drove away. They continued to have small chit chat, until they arrived at the most retro house Seamus had ever seen. The house had a retro-futuristic vibe from the 50’s, with a small stone garden on the front yard. It was eye catching, especially when compared to the rest of the houses on the street. Mortgage was high already for a normal house, so he definitely didn’t want to know how much it had cost to build the house in front of them. Figures that Krel lived in such a house, Seamus just kept getting surprised with anything involving that boy. 

They parked on the driveway, next to what looked to be Darci’s jeep. He could hear yelling and music playing in the backyard, as Steve led him to the front door. 

“Word of warning, Aja’s and Krel’s, um, _family_ are a little intense. I mean, you already seen their grandpa, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Steve said to him before knocking on the door. _What was that supposed to mean?_ He had seen their grandpa before, Varvatos Vex if he remembered correctly, as he had threatened his father to ‘skin him, for him to use as drapes for his living room’. A colorful and disturbing threat, but Seamus couldn’t say that his father didn’t deserve it. How bad could the rest be?

Seamus' question was answered as a woman with an insane smile answered the door, swinging it wide open. She was dressed in an white collared dress with a floral pattern printed on it, her blonde hair tied up into a french pleat straight from the 1950’s. They were taking the 50’s aesthetic very seriously.

“Howdy buckaroos! Steve! It’s good to see you again!’ She exclaimed with so much enthusiasm that it took Seamus by surprise. She proceeded to crush Steve in a hug that definitely didn’t look to be comfortable, if Steve’s distressed face was anything to go on.

“H-hey Lucy, n-nice to see you again.” Steve choked out between breaths, and Lucy finally put him down.

“And who’s this?” she asked, as she turned to him, her already wide smile getting wider. Seamus was getting a little bit nervous by Lucy, something about her gave him uncanny valley vibes, and he didn’t know what it was. Not wanting to come off as rude though, he extended his arm to shake her’s, as he opened his mouth to introduce himself. Before he even made a sound, he saw how Lucy’s hand was ripped from his, and replaced by a stronger, brown one.

The hand belonged to the tallest woman he’d ever seen, as Seamus guessed she reached 6’5 feet easily. She definitely looked like she worked out, as he could see the outline of strong biceps through her black turtleneck, not to say his hand was currently being crushed rather painfully. She was also wearing grey dress pants, a thin silver chain around her neck, black piercings that framed her short hair, and vibrant red high heels to complete the look. She looked elegant, but Seamus was currently focusing on the death glare she was sending him. Her dark brown eyes, which almost looked to be completely black, shined with distrust as she scanned him, and Seamus got the feeling that she could easily drop kick him into the sky if she felt like it. Safe to say that this was the most intimidating person in the world.

“Zadra! Nice to see you! Did you get a haircut?” Steve thankfully broke her apart, but faulted slightly when she turned her glare towards him. 

“Steve,” she greeted back, ignoring Steve’s nervous chuckling, “And yes, I did get a ‘makeover’, as you teenagers call it.” She said, before returning to frown at Seamus again.

“Heyyy, did you meet my buddy Seamus already? He’s cool.” Steve said, looping an arm around his neck to pull him down. Seamus just shot her a nervous smile.

“I’ve heard of him, and the little math duel he took part of with Krel,” She answered. She heard about the math duel. No wonder she was looking at him with murderous intent. Damn he really was a jerk. “But I’m sure the boy can introduce himself to me.” 

Shoot, okay. Seamus had this! He just needed to show her that he was no longer a jerk! Second chance to make a good impression!

“Uh- Hi. Nice to meet you, Ms. Zadra.” Okay not the best he could’ve done, but he hasn't made a complete fool out of himself yet. Steve’s silent giggles weren't helping though. “Name’s Seamus ma’am. Seamus Johnson.”

“Oh that’s a lovely name!” Lucy’s excited yell startled him. He completely forgot she was still there. Steve seemed to be having a blast over his suffering, as his frame shook with giggles. Asshole.

Luckily Krel appeared from the hallway around the corner, and upon seeing Seamus stuck between Lucy and Zadra, rushed over to him.

“Seklos and Gaylen,” Seamus could hear him mutter to himself, as he positioned himself in front of him. “Hey Seamus! I see that you already met Lucy and Zadra.” Krel smiled at him, and he could see an apologetic look in his eyes. Seamus just flushed in return.

“We’re going outside now, you two keep doing what you were doing.” Krel told the two women, before dragging Seamus to the sliding glass doors by the arm, Steve following suit as he contained his laughter. Seamus could feel Zadra’s eyes following him as they moved, but instead decided to focus on the boy in front of him, gripping his arm.

Krel looked nice. He was wearing a pair of dark blue swimming shorts with neon blue details, paired up with a loose tank top that showed off his collarbone and shoulders. Seamus was having a great number of difficulty restraining himself from staring.

“Sorry about them. Zadra is a little overprotective sometimes, and Lucy is just like that,” Krel said, a thankful distractor from Seamus’ disrailing thoughts. “Hope they didn’t scare you too much.” He teased with a smirk. Seamus could feel himself beginning to turn red. Krel’s smirks made him feel way too warm for it to be considered healthy.

“N-no it's fine. It’s nice that they care so much.” Seamus answered, tearing his eyes away from Krel’s, and inspecting the rest of the house instead. Just like the outside, the inside had the same 50’s look, retro-looking furniture adorning the living room and the kitchen.

“Here we are-” Krel said, opening the sliding door to the patio outside. Seamus went out first, before being tackled by an orange and white blur, Steve’s loud cackles and Krel’s quieter laughs in the background. Clearing his vision, he saw how the blur turned out to be a corgi, who stared at him with the biggest eyes ever before jumping to lick Seamus’ face. He laughed while trying to push the dog off.

“Luug! Stop, that’s gross!” Krel laughed, as he wrapped his arms around Luug, carrying him out of Seamus’ lap. Luug just barked in return, before licking Krel’s face, causing the boy to drop him.

“No no, it’s fine,” Seamus said, wiping his face to get rid of Luug’s saliva. Upon hearing him speak, Luug pressed his face against his side, demanding attention, which Seamus happily complied. “Who’s a good boy? You are!” He said as he scratched Luug behind the ears, causing the corgi to start barking out of joy.

“Stop pampering him, he’s already spoiled as it is.” Krel said, a smile on his lips at the scene in front of him. Seamus just stuck out his tongue at him in response and continued to pet Luug. “C’mon you can pet him later.” Krel said, offering him a hand.

Seamus took it, but before he could take his hand back, Krel tugged him towards a small table, their hands still linked. He tripped slightly, his mind completely freaking out that they were basically holding hands. It was fine though. Nothing to freak out about! Holding hands was something friends did, right? He was just being overdramatic. 

Krel led them towards where two older men where, one he recognized as Krel’s grandpa, and another man that looked to be in his 40’s, who was grilling hot dogs. The younger man looked happy to see them approach, while the older one had a scowl on his face upon seeing Seamus. Not that he couldn’t blame him. Krel let go of his hand once they got close enough, and Seamus secretly lamented the loss of it. Just a little bit.

“A-hoy there kiddos! A beautiful day we're having, right?” The younger one said joyously, a wide smile like Lucy’s on his face. He gave the same strange vibes as Lucy, but Seamus still went to greet him, not wanting any more members of the Tarron family to dislike him.

“Um, nice to meet you, Mr…”

“Blank! But you can call me Ricky son!” Ricky exclaimed, before returning to flip the burned hot dogs. Seamus just watched as one combusted into flames.

“Uh- right.” He said slowly, turning his attention towards the older man, currently watching him with distrustful eyes. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Vex.” Seamus offers his hand to the other.

“Pleasure’s all mine.” Varvatos says, crushing his hand in a shake. At this point, Seamus is lucky he hadn’t broken his hand yet. Vex lets his hand go, watching him with a calculated look, no doubt planning his death.

“Now that we all know each other, we’ll be going now. The others are waiting for us.” Krel spoke, diverting Vex’s attention from Seamus.

“Have fun kids! And remember! No running in the pool!” Ricky yelled as they retreated. Steve was right, Krel’s family _was_ intense. But they looked nice enough if you looked deeper inside.

They walked towards the pool, where the rest of the teenagers were. Aja, Darci, Toby, and Eli were in the water, passing a beach ball between themselves, while Mary was lying in a chair, taking a million selfies, posing for each one. Steve was nowhere to be seen, but Seamus didn’t think too hard about it. As they approached the group, Mary looked up from her phone, face splitting in a grin as she saw them.

“Well, well, well!” If it isn’t Arcadia’s local repressed emo nerd!” She laughs, snapping a quick shot of Seamus’ unimpressed face. “#CryptidSpotted!”

“I’m not emo.” Seamus says in a dignified way. Mary was always quick to poke fun at him, always saying that he never went anywhere cool. Not his fault that he didn’t go to every single party in Arcadia.

“Dude! 90% of your wardrobe is black!” Toby exclaimed, making the rest of the group laugh while he stuttered to defend himself, except for Aja and Krel, who shot confused stares at each other.

“Ha! You might try to deny it, but we all know it’s true!” Mary laughed, going back to her phone. “Also, surprise seeing you here. Since when are you bff’s with Kale? I thought you hated his ass, or something last time I checked.” She said, completely ignoring Krel’s attempts to correct her.

But before he could respond, Steve’s voice ran out behind them, causing them to turn around to look for the source of the commotion. As soon as they turned around they were drenched with water, as Steve had cannon-balled into the pool, sending out a wave of water.

“STEVE!” Mary yelled, scrambling to protect her phone from the flying droplets of water. She glared where Steve had gone underwater, while Seamus laughed, enjoying her bad karma.

“What? I can’t control where the water goes!” Steve laughed as he resurfaced, a shit-eating grin wide on his face. 

“You got my phone wet! You did that on purpose!” Mary said, absolutely furious.

“Sounds like a personal problem.”

“That’s it! I’m going to kill you, asshole!” She yelled, before she took off, landing on the water with a splash that left Steve swallowing water. She resurfaced just to continue to splash water at him. The rest were chanting her name, egging her on.

“Seamus! Help me out man!” Steve yelled out, only to once again get a mouthful of water.

“Alright, alright!” He laughed, placing down his backpack on a free chair. “Just let me get changed!” He said, taking out his own swimsuit. After asking Krel where the bathroom was, he rushed, making sure to be fast as not to keep the others waiting too long. His own swimsuit included a pair of black shorts, along with a black swim shirt. Maybe the others did have a point, his wardrobe _was_ mostly black.

Returning to the others, he saw how the little match between Mary and Steve had evolved into a full-out war between everyone, as they were all trying to splash each other’s faces. Krel was the only one not in the pool, instead he sat in the same chair Seamus left his stuff, watching the others trying to drown each other. He had a look on his face that concerned Seamus. He walked up to him, dropping his clothes next to his bag.

“What’s up?” He asked Krel, allowing himself to voice out some of his concern.

“The sky, that’s what’s up.” Krel answered, drawing out a small chuckle from him.

“No duh,” Seamus said, taking a seat next to him. “But really, what’s up?”

Krel sighed then, looking at him with those brown eyes that caused him to melt from the inside. “It’s dumb.”

“Not if it’s making you feel like this.” He said softly. He didn’t want to pressure Krel into talking, but he was also worried about him.

“It’s just that… I’ve never actually been to a pool before. I know it sounds contradictory since I have a pool, but I’ve never actually used it. I know it’s just a small body of water, but I’m a little bit nervous.”

Seamus was a little confused at first, to be honest. Krel’s confession was not what he was expecting, but once Krel finished explaining, Seamus just shot him a comforting smile.

“I admit, it is a little bit weird that you have a pool and you never used it, but it’s not silly to be nervous when it comes to trying new things.” Seamus said, placing a hand on his shoulder, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

“Maybe, but look at Aja! She just jumped in without a second thought, while I’m out here probably overthinking the whole thing.” Krel said exasperated.

“Well that’s because she’s Aja and you’re Krel. It’s not a bad thing to think twice about things sometimes.”

Before Krel could respond, Mary called out to them, informing them that they were about to start a volleyball match. Seamus stood up, offering Krel a hand.

“C’mon, I’ll help you.”

Krel stared at him, his eyes running through different emotions too fast for Seamus to catch, before a determined look settled down on his eyes. He took his hand, a grin lifting up his features. Seamus grinned in return.

“Lead away”

As Seamus led Krel to the pool by the hand, his eyes crossed with Darci’s, who was watching them with an unknowable look in her eyes. Her glance traveled to their joined hands, and Seamus felt dread chill his body.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big bruh moment
> 
> So yeah this chapter (and the next one) kinda replace the plot of ep3, don't worry I'm saving major plot points for later, I just wanted these kids to be dumb teenagers for a moment.
> 
> (also can we get a f in the chat for those who clicked the link in the last chapter and got rick-rolled in 2020, bless)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be part of the last chapter, but it was getting to long so I had to cut it, but now its own chapter!!

Seamus felt himself dying inside. Darci had seen him talking all soft to Krel, which he never did to anyone before, and had seen how he led him to the pool with their hands linked. It had been awhile since he last saw her, and he was pretty sure she was under the impression that he still didn’t like Krel, and only whatever cosmic deity knew what was going through her mind right now. Seamus felt like she could see straight through him with her sharp eyes, and it didn’t help that the look in her face was impossible for him to figure out. 

He almost slipped, but quickly recovered. He still needed to help Krel out right now, she and the rest of his panic could wait for later. Luckily Draci tore her gaze from them when Toby splashed her in the face. Seamus had never been more thankful towards the shorter boy than ever in his life. With Darci’s attention off him, he relaxed enough to continue coaxing Krel into the water, even splashing him slightly in his face. This prompted Krel to step in the water, only so he could splash Seamus’ face in return. They continued to move deeper, or as deep as a 5 feet pool allowed them to.

“See? Not so bad is it?” Seamus asked, leaning on one of the pool noodles that floated lazily on the water. The others were dividing themselves into groups for the upcoming game of volleyball, allowing a moment for him to speak with Krel alone.

“I have to admit, it’s quite refreshing, especially when compared to the sun’s rays.” Krel laughed, the worry from before completely gone. 

“C’mon,” Seamus said, grabbing a hold of Krel’s arms. “Take a deep breath and don’t open your mouth.” Ignoring the quizzical look from the other, Seamus took in his own breath and pulled them both under the water.

Seamus could feel Krel’s body tense for a moment, before he relaxed. He opened his eyes slightly, expecting the slight burn of the chlorine to sting his eyes, but when no sting ever came, he fully opened his eyes. It was something he noticed earlier, the pool didn’t smell of any chemicals that gave pools that distinct smell they had, and instead smelled like fresh water from a spring. The qualities of the water didn't matter right now though, as Seamus was currently left choking at the sight in front of him.

Krel looked absolutely stunning underwater. His hair was floating around his head, the stray rays of sunshine lightning the outline of it, looking more like a halo than anything. His shirt was lifted up slightly, showing off his lean, tan stomach. Seamus took a mental picture, wanting to remember the sight for the rest of his life. Krel opened his eyes then, meeting them with his and giving him a grin, and Seamus was pretty sure the world stopped moving. He felt his face grow warm as he stared back at him, and they continued to do so until Seamus remembered air was something they both needed.

Resurfacing, he gasped for air, as Krel did the same a second later. Seamus was sure he was a blushing mess, so he decided to concern himself with regaining control of his breathing. He was sure he would explode if he looked at Krel in this state.

“I would appreciate a little warning next time before you decide to pull me underwater.” He could hear Krel say after a second, before he broke into a laugh. Seamus decided to risk it and looked up. Krel was smiling, pushing his wet hair that clung to his face. There was a joyous look in his eyes, which reflected in the stray droplets of water that traveled his skin.

“S-sorry,”

He could feel his blush still lingering, but was caught by surprise when a colorful blur crashed with his head, leaving him flailing his arms out so he wouldn’t go underwater again. He was completely caught off-guard by the surprise hit. Shaking his surprise, he saw that the object that had crashed rather unceremoniously with his face was the plastic beach ball the rest were throwing earlier. Speaking of the others, they were all currently looking away, innocent looks in their faces as they tried to act like nothing had happened. Innocent? Hah, only the guilty looked away.

Before Seamus could reprimand the others, he was cut short when Krel snorted, laughing his ass off. The others started laughing too, but Seamus could only focus on him. Krel’s snort was the best thing he ever heard, such a genuine sound that left him swooning. The whole world appeared through rose-tinted glasses then.

“C’mon you two! We’re about to start!” Steve’s voice cut through his enamored state, snapping him back to awareness. He laughed nervously, hoping no one noticed him looking at Krel with hearts in his eyes. Well, most of them didn’t notice, but he could see Darci giving him that look again. He quickly hurried over to the others, avoiding all sorts of eye contact with her.

“We tried to divide teams into what we hope are equal powers, so that way it’s fair for everyone.” Eli said once everyone had gathered in a circle.

“Krel! Mary! Toby! You’re with me!” Steve yelled out, pointing at each person as he called out their names.

“Darci! Seamus! Eli! You’re on my team!” Aja called out after Steve was done talking, her eyes shining with excitement. Seamus was a little disappointed that he wasn’t on the same team with Krel, but quickly hid his disappointed lest Darci saw it. He didn’t want her getting any more ideas.

They explained game rules, before retreating into different sides of the pool. He was picked to go out in front along with Aja, with Darci and Eli behind them. Steve and Toby were across Seamus, Krel and Mary behind them. Steve yelled out a quick ‘go’, before serving the ball straight at Seamus, who scrambled to hit it back. They had an intense match, Aja’s and Steve’s competitiveness feeding the rest. They were pretty evenly matched, whenever one team scored the other scored back, and vice-versa. After a while, Ricky came close, before a stray beach ball whirled past him, a few inches from his head. 

“Woah, careful there! I almost saw stars!” He exclaimed, ever-present smile on his face. “You kids get out now, lunch is ready!”

The announcement led to a small stampede, as the group of teenagers rushed out of the pool, each of them starving. While they were playing, the adults had set out a picnic table out, adorned by a red checkered cloth. Two pitchers filled with lemonade and sweet tea were placed in the middle, plates filled with chips and nachos surrounding them. Ricky placed a plate of burned hot dogs next to them.

They scrambled to the benches, Seamus taking a spot in the edge with Krel by his side. As he reached for a plate, he noticed Darci sitting right across him, but thankfully she was distracted by Mary, who was taking a group selfie. Everyone knew Darci could see straight through anyone's bullshit, which made her one of the most sensible people in their school. Naturally, Seamus absolutely dreaded the fact that she was able to see straight through him so easily. But apart from looking at him with that ‘I know’ look, she made no move to address what was both their minds. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t do so later. Seamus ate his burned hot dog worriedly, before Eli stood up suddenly, rushing to his bag before returning. He had a set of cards in his hand.

“I brought Uno cards!” He said once he got seated. Steve cheered, saying something about him being the king of Uno or something. Toby took the cards from Eli, explaining that he was taught how to shuffle cards at his magic camp. He did a fancy shuffle, before dramatically dealing out seven cards to each of them. After doing so, he explained the rules to Aja and Krel, who were looking quizzically at their cards.

They played for a few rounds, laughing whenever someone got dealt a +4 car or got stuck in a trap. Mary was taking random selfies with whomever, before getting called out on cheating, as she was secretly taking pictures of people’s decks without them knowing. She just laughed in return. Seamus had to respect her hustle though. Conversation floated across the table, as the sky started to get cloudy, a welcomed change from the sun. Seamus didn’t join much in the current conversation, his attention currently focused to his left, where Krel was sitting.

He was focused on his cards, a peaceful look on his face. This close to him, Seamus could see how his skin had tanned slightly from the sun, how his damp hair reflected the light, and how his wet shirt clung to his torso. The added weight of the water lowered the collar, exposing a little bit of his chest. Semus couldn’t help but stare. It was embarrassing in retrospect, how he ogled at the sight of exposed skin. This boy was going to kill him. 

He was interrupted from his staring by a cough, that startled him so much a high-pitched noise escaped his mouth. Tearing his eyes away from Krel, he saw how the others were giving him impatient looks, except for Darci, whose eyes shined with amusement. Dammit, she caught him staring at Krel again.

“W-what?” Seamus asked defensively, voice an octave higher due to his panic.

“It’s your turn, poindexter.” Mary answered simply, rolling her eyes.

“Uh- yeah, right.” He said. Shame was creeping up to him, making him feel sweaty. Before anyone could comment on his weird behavior, a loud boom of thunder ran out through the air, a heavy downpour of rain falling on them seconds later. They all rushed to grab their things, running inside. 

Whatever process of drying their clothes were in was ruined, as they were all now drenched again with rain. They all wrapped themselves with their towels, not wanting to leave puddles on the floor and carpets. Their loud entrance startled Vex, who was napping on the armchair in the living room, Luug in his lap. He stretched his joints, which made Seamus cringe from how loud they popped, before retreating from the living room now that it was invaded by unruly teenagers, muttering to himself about how they would experience ‘glorious death’ from having them wake him up. Lucy and Ricky, alerted by the commotion, went outside to collect whatever was left outside. Zadra was nowhere to be seen, and Seamus didn’t know if that was comforting.

“Aww man! Just our luck!” Toby whined, running his towel through his hair. “What gives? The weather forecast had said that today was supposed to be a completely sunny day!”

“I don’t know, but it looks like this storm isn’t giving up anytime soon.” Mary said, poking her head through the blinds.”Party’s over.”

Her statement was followed by a group of boo’s, as they all groaned in response. Seamus checked his phone, which read that it was only 4:30 pm. He had told his dad that he would be back at noon, but he was definitely not ready to go back to his house, where an hour long lecture surely was waiting for him. Lucy and Ricky returned inside, also completely drenched from the rain.

“It’s raining cats and dogs out there!” Lucy said, way too happy for someone who got their clothes and hair ruined. “You kids better stay inside for a while, until it clears up enough to drive. A storm like this is bound to create flash floods!” Another thunder strike ran out, shaking the house. Looks like they were going to be there for a few hours. 

“We can all still party inside,” Aja said, walking over to the kitchen, searching through the food that wasn’t ruined by the rain. “We should change first though.”

The siblings separated from the rest, going to their rooms, while the rest had a rock-paper-scissors match between themselves to figure out who got the restroom to change in. Mary won, fueled by the need to redo her makeup asap. While they waited, Toby and Eli started to play Go Go Sushi. From where did they get the game from, Seamus had no clue, but strange things always happened around those two.

Krel and Aja returned, now dressed in their usual attire. Upon seeing the others still in their still damp clothes they offered their rooms for the others to get change in, as Mary had decided to take a shower while she was at it. Who fucking showered at other people’s showered, Seamus had no idea, but the girl was known to take her appearance very seriously.

“Hey, you can change in my room if you want, unless you want to wait for the bathroom to become available in about twenty mek-minutes” Krel offered, and Seamus accepted, already getting irritated with his current state. Walking past the narrow hallway, he entered Krel’s room, determined to get in then out, not wanting to make a big deal about the fact that this was the first time he was going to see how his room looked like.

Seamus still took a second to take in the room though. His bed stood in the center, a small blue bookcase acting as a headboard hanging on a wall which had a retro square pattern. A desk was positioned across the bed, an adjustable computer monitor and a wireless keyboard on it. Three huge windows, that almost took up the whole wall across Seamus, let enough light to flow through their closed blinds, a keyboard to the right. Vinyl records hung from the walls and ceilings, which reflected in the light. The whole place suited Krel’s personality perfectly. He snapped from his lollygagging, changing as fast as he could. He didn’t know why, but he felt weird just standing there in Krel's room.

Opening the door to head out, he ran straight into Darci, who was coming out of Aja’s room. He faulted, stumbling for an apology. _ How many times was this going to happen today?! _ Seamus felt like he was going to lose his mind. He moved away awkwardly, rushing to get out of the hallway into the living room. Toby and Eli were still engrossed with their video game, Steve cheering them on. Aja and Krel were nowhere to be seen, and Mary was still in the bathroom. Seamus took a seat on the couch, letting out a tired sigh as he buried his face on his hands, wanting a moment to process the whole day. He felt someone sit next to him, but he didn’t feel like looking up to check who it was. They sat there for a second, letting the excited yells from the boys in front of the t.v fill the silence between them, before the person next to him cleared their throat.

“You should ask him out.”

Those five words left him choking on his spit, as he jumped to look at who was talking to him. His eyes landed on Darci, who was watching him with that look again. He quickly went to the defensive, trying to act like he had no idea of what she was talking about. He could feel his nervousness coming back full force.

“W-what? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He kept his voice low, loud enough so only she could hear him. If the others were to overhear them, Seamus was sure he was going to drop dead on the spot. Darci just rolled her eyes in return.

“What do you think I am? Dumb?” She said, slightly exasperated. “I have eyes Seamus, even a mole could see you giving Krel those lovestruck eyes. You’re lucky he’s too oblivious to notice.”

Seamus just sighed, slouching farther into his seat. No use lying now. Was it really that noticeable?

“Alright fine, you caught me,” He told her, face burning up just a little. It was embarrassing saying it outloud. “But I’m not going to ask him out. I just made friends with him a week ago, I don’t want to ruin our friendship. Besides, I don’t even know if he likes me like that. I don’t know if he likes boys in general!” He said, before cutting himself quiet, looking around to see if anyone heard him. Everyone else was still doing whatever they were doing, signaling that he was in the clear. Darci just laughed at his edge.

“Well, if you’re not going to ask him out then what are you gonna do?” She asked, containing her laughter after Seamus shot her a glare.

“I don’t know.. I’m kinda hoping this goes away-” He said, looking away. He had no idea how he should proceed, there were just so many ways this could go wrong. Darci smacked his arm, cutting him off from his thoughts. She had a look in her face, the same a mother does when they lecture their children who have gotten in trouble.

“Oww, what gives?” He said, frowning slightly. She didn’t need to hit him that hard.

“Listen to me. As smart as you are, you are being extremely dumb right now.” She stressed, shaking his shoulder slightly. “Nothing good ever comes if you try to bottle everything in. Just ask him out, simple as that.”

“Simple? What you just said is not ‘simple’, it’s the complete opposite!” He groaned. She had a boyfriend, maybe it was simple for her, but not for him! The guy that had no dating experience whatsoever!

“Well at least think about it. It might be risky, but what’s life without a little bit of risk? Look at me, I’m dating the guy that used to refer to himself as a ‘player’” She said. giving him a smile. Maybe she was right, maybe he was overthinking and making the situation more difficult than it needed to be. He was still wary though.

“I’ll think about it.” He said, a timid smile growing on his face.

“That’s the spirit! Finally using that big head of yours for something!” 

He pushed her slightly, causing the both of them to laugh. Darci’s peptalk did leave him with something to think about. Could he actually ask Krel out? Could he do it without dying of a heart attack first? He saw Aja and Krel return from wherever they were, his eyes on Krel’s approaching figure.

“I still think you two would be cute together.”

Probably not.

* * *

Mother scoured through her databases. While the royals had gone to touch bases with the commanders, Mother took it out of herself to monitor the six teenagers in the house. As she was a part of the ship, just like the ship was a part of herself, that meant that she could hear every conversation that occurred inside her walls, which meant she had overheard the conversation between the two teens sitting on the couch. Seamus Johnson and Darci Scott, her database identified them as.

Mother was still acquiring data on human behavior and connections, so her references on the topic of the two humans were talking about were still lacking, but they were sufficient enough for her to get the meaning of. A human wished to court the king-in-waiting, and this intrigued Mother. Ever since she was rebooted, she had noticed a part of her coding had changed, as she slowly turned more sentient. She hasn’t lost sight of her true goal, which was the protection of House Tarron, but she had attained the freewill of exploring more about the inhabitants of the planet they were currently grounded on. If there was something she had discovered from observing Earth’s inhabitants, was that they were extremely emotional and social creatures. Both things that she thought her prince needed more exposure to.

She had noticed that the king-in-waiting had become more stressed lately, as he kept running trials and simulations of different ways of fixing her flight systems, all ending in dead-ends that furthered worsened the future king’s mood. It had taken a great deal of effort, from both her and the queen-in-waiting, to convince him to step out from his lab and enjoy the party Aja had planned. Mother worried that if it wasn't for their interventions, the prince would neglect his own health. A partner could help remind him to take a break once in a while, as she had found that the majority of humans were loyal to their partners.

Mother formed a ‘game plan’,as they humans called it. She would help this human in his quest of courtship. The predictions that this would end in disaster were still unknown, but she had worked with worse odds before.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mother is scheming, wonder what she will do :)
> 
> Online school is starting to pick up, so updates might be slower idk
> 
> Thanks for reading anyways!! Ily!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being so late lmao online school has been kicking my ass, but i'm finally here with more dumb bitches!!  
> also thanks for all the support, love y'all!!

The night sky rumbled from the heavy clouds up ahead, as lightning traveled through them, lighting up the sky in quick flashes. One particular ray of lightning diverged from the others, striking the ground below. The impact of lightning crashing with stone resonated through the air, and while many would mistake it for thunder, it signified a threat far worse than any thunderstorm. As the flash cleared, a monstrous creature stood in the middle of where the ray hit the ground, it’s powerful roar blending with the sounds of the storm.

Tronos Madu, renowned Bounty Hunter and hardened survivor of Voltar, stood in the forest overlooking Arcadia. After delsons searching through the old files of the Zeron Brotherhood, he finally found the location of his bounty. He was finally going to avenge Voltar, and get his revenge on those who left his planet to rot. The billions of crestons he would get in return was a nice added bonus, but not his true price. No, his true price was going to be the feeling of the royal cores crushing between his hands.

The royals thought he had died from the war, just like Voltar died, but the war had only hardened his spirit and keened his thirst for bloodshed. They only had themselves to blame for what was to fall upon them. Tronos was just the delivery boy for the royals long overdue payback.

With murderous resolve, Tronos traveled through the forest, fast as lightning. His objective; Arcadia Oaks. The backwater town was the royals current refugee, but Tronos was going to make it their deathbed.

* * *

Krel was currently walking through Arcadia’s streets, his path straight for Stuart’s shop. After the rather frustrating morning in the mothership, his nerves were high. What was so difficult about him needing space to work with for some people to understand?! How was he supposed to fix a grounded ship if he keeps being interrupted every mekron?! 

After ‘dividing and conquering’ their work, Krel was finally allowed a sekton to think. He needed to check in with Stuart to see if he had any knowledge about the parts he needed to fix the Mothership. He hoped the Durian would have a speck of a clue about where on this mudball planet he could even hope to find the parts. Stuart possessed a wide and varied amount of information about Earth after being stranded for thirty keltons, so he was Krel’s best chance right now.

As Krel rounded a street corner, a yell caught his attention, pulling him away from his silent muttering. Turning around he saw a figure approach him. He stopped himself from snapping at them once he recognized who it was. Seamus was jogging up to him, his cheeks slightly flushed from running. While Krel would rather not have any more distractions, he still waited up for the other boy to catch up.

“H-hey Krel!” Seamus breathed out once he was at his side. “What’s up? And don’t say the sky.” He chuckled slightly, making Krel roll his eyes. Interestingly enough the sudden appearance of the blonde didn’t bother Krel as opposed to all the sudden appearance from literally everyone else, instead it brought the opposite effect, as Krel found himself getting more relaxed around him.

Ever since the pool party that they had hosted, something had changed between them. Krel wasn’t too sure what exactly it was, but Krel could feel it. It was some sort of feeling he never experienced before. Weird but not exactly unpleasant. It annoyed him that he didn’t know what it was though, if there was anything he hated more than anything, it was being left in the dark. Nothing infuriated him more than not having all the details, and Krel wanted to explore this new development, mostly to appease his curiosity. It would be good to get a second opinion on the situation though, but Krel was convinced that if he told Aja, she would take it out of proportion, and he didn’t want to deal with that.

“Hey,” Krel responded, starting to walk again, Seamus by his left. “I'm just going to Stuart’s Electronics. I know the owner and I want to ask him some questions about some parts that I need.” 

“Parts huh? Mind if I ask what you’re doing?” Seamus said. It was an innocent question, but Krel started to get slightly anxious. It was hard enough hiding the fact that he was Akiridion back when he had no human friends, but now that he had a friend he just felt slightly guilty that he was lying to him. Not enough for him for him to jeopardize his position though .

“I uh- I’m repairing the television! Aja accidentally broke it,” Krel stammered, hoping the explanation was convincing enough.

“Yo! And you’re going to fix it, instead of, y’know, getting a new one? I mean, no offence, but your t.v is ancient dude!” Seamus laughed. “Hey mind if I tag along? I’m bored out of my mind right now.”

Krel meant to turn down the invitation, he really did, but seeing the look the other had on his face made his resolve melt. Seamus had a hopeful look on his eyes, one that made Krel feel soft on the inside.

“You don’t have to, Stuart’s store is in the next block,” Krel tried, but he could feel himself losing. It’s not that he didn’t want to hang out with Seamus, but how was he supposed to be inconspicuous when he needed to ask Stuart for parts for the Mothership? Seamus was smarter than the other humans, he would definitely notice if he slipped up.

“Aww c’mon! Also now that I think about it, I remember that I need to pick up a new alarm clock. Mine got busted a while back. Ha, what a coincidence, right?” Seamus said, a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

“Fine. but I don’t know how long it'll take me to check in with Stuart,” Krel relented with a sigh. He hoped Seamus would lose interest, but his hopes proved futile. But Krel couldn’t bring it to himself to be annoyed at the blonde. Instead he found it to be sweet, strangely enough.

They continued to walk in silence, Seamus trying to start a conversation here and there, before cutting himself off a few words in. He kept opening his mouth to ask him something, before snapping it closed and looking away, his checks dusted with pink. Krel was at an absolute loss. Seamus’ current behavior was extremely new to him, and he had absolutely no idea what to do. Seamus almost appeared… shy to be around Krel, and it was making him feel weird. The boy’s nervousness was spreading to Krel, as he searched for any reasonable explanation for Seamus’ weird behavior. Krel really lamented the fact that Aja broke his mind reader, 

Before the cycle repeated itself again, Krel noticed that they were approaching Stuart’s shop. He pointed towards the shop, cutting Seamus off this time to announce that they were here. Seamus still looked like he wanted to tell Krel something, but he just shook his head, opening the door for Krel. They both stepped inside the narrow shop, various electronic objects piling up in the shelves, reaching the ceiling. Krel called out Stuart’s name, as the man wasn’t in his usual places behind the counter. The sounds of something crashing in the back room were heard, followed a hasty ‘be right there’. Seamus throwed Krel a questionable look, before turning his attention to the devices that were on sale. Krel walked up to the counter, waiting for Stuart, who appeared into the room seconds later, looking a little bit disheveled. Krel must have woken him up from a nap.

“Wel- Oh hey Krel!” Stuart exclaimed once he saw Krel, the Durian’s features lighting up. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Krel looked behind him, making sure Seamus was distracted and out of ear’s reach, before turning back to Stuart, gesturing him to come closer. “ _ I need to check up with you about the parts needed to fix Mother. _ ” Krel whispered in his native language, not wanting Seamus to overhear their conversation.

“ _ Parts? I don’t know if I can help ya with that. Getting that plutonium fuel cell from that physicist in Tijuana was already difficult as it was, not to say expensive. That guy drove a really hard bargain.”  _ Stuart rambled back, scratching his neck, his brows furrowed. Now that he thought about it, Krel had no idea where Stuart had learned his language. Guess he needed to learn it if he was going to be their biggest ‘fan’.

_ “What about Area 49-B? They collect any object of extra-terrestrial origin, so it’s possible they could have some technology that could be of use, not to say they had your ship last time.”  _ While Krel would rather not step another foot in that place ever again, he was willing to do so if it meant even the slightest possibility of fixing Mother.

_ “I’m not sure raiding Area 49-B would work again. We already broke into that place twice, so their security system must have improved. Pulling the wool over Coronel Kubritz again is not an option this time. Not to say that there is always the possibility that they won't have any of the parts that you need.” _

_ “And you’re sure you don’t know of anything else? You have connections with people everywhere on this dump-heap, maybe one of them may know something” _

_ “Sorry Krel, the technology that I’m able to access is definitely not enough to fix the entire flight system of Mother. Even getting the parts of the daxial array were difficult as it was, and the major compartments of it were built with scraps from other ships. The technology of this planet is simply not enough.”  _ Stuart said, giving him an apologetic shrug. 

They were both stuck in dead ends, and this whole situation was giving Krel a major headache. The hopes of actually repairing Mother and getting back to Akiridion-5 seemed bleaker everyday, and it made Krel’s core spike with anxiety. Krel refused to give up though, they needed to return to Akiridion-5, they needed to take back their parents' throne. One way or another he was going to fix everything, and failure was not an option, too much was on the line. He just wished this whole situation wasn’t so difficult or frustrating. He has spent delsons planning ways to fix Mother, but they all kept failing, whether from insufficient technology that wasn’t remotely available or by other unforeseen factors. It was extremely frustrating. Krel closed his eyes, humming in thought as he searched his mind for anything that could be of help. He kept drawing even more blanks the longer he concentrated, so he let out a frustrated sigh as he gave up for the time being. He met Stuart's eyes, begging him to help him out, but Stuart just gave him another shrug. Krel’s mood was saved from downspireling further by the sound of Seamus’ footsteps coming closer to them. Krel glanced at him, and noticed that Seamus was holding a blue alarm clock in his hand. As Stuart notices the other person in the room, a look of joy filled his face, no doubt at the fact that he had a customer, as he scrambles to the register to ring him up.

Stuart stuffs the clock along with a receipt in a paper bag, which he hands to Seamus with a happy smile. Seamus gives Krel a glance to see if he’s ready to go, to which Krel holds up his hand, telling the other to wait for a meckron before going back to Stuart.

_ “You’re absolutely sure you don’t know of anything that can help?”  _ Krel asked for a final time, wanting to make absolutely sure that Stuart wasn’t forgetting anything. The Durian was known to forget major information, only to remember it last minute.

_ “Sorry man, but there's nothing I can do.”  _ Stuart said, looking as defeated as Krel felt inside.

_ “It’s okay, thank you for trying. I’ll see you later.”  _ Krel sighed, signaling to Seamus that he was ready to leave. Stuart shouted a quick goodbye before retrieving back into the back room. As they made their way to the exit, Krel noticed that Seamus was looking at him worriedly. Seamus reached the door first, holding it open for Krel. The simple action made Krel feel that feeling again, and he noticed that his frustration, again, was lessening. 

“Soo, I take it you didn’t find those parts you were looking for?” Seamus asked once they stepped outside.

“No, unfortunately Stuart didn’t know where I could find the parts.” Krel sighed for the millionth time this delson. “Stupid” He muttered, mostly to himself.

Seamus hummed, looking up at the cloudy sky, then checking his phone for a second. He pocketed it before clasping his hands softly.

“Hey.. How about we go eat something? You look like you need a break.” He said. Krel noticed that he looked a little bit red in the face, but just wrote it off from the slight breeze that promised another downpour from the grey clouds above. A jarring difference from the hot and sunny day from yesterday. Now that he thought about it, he should’ve brought his own jacket. Krel thought about the invitation, torn between his options. On one hand, he didn't want to be out in the streets in case rain broke out and he really needed to get back to his lab, but on the other, he was starving. He had skipped breakfast this morning in order to spend more time fixing the broken flight systems and brainstorming ideas. The slight grumble his stomach let out at the thought of food made his decision fairly quickly.

“Sure.” Krel said after thinking it over. Maybe if he took a quick break, he could come up with a solution to his problem later.

“Great! I have just the place in mind!” Seamus smiled, making Krel feel warm, even though the wind was starting to pick up again. “It’s not that far from here! C’mon”

They walked until they reached a small dinner, the ever popular Sam’s. It was a popular hangout for the teens of Arcadia, its location conveniently close to all the popular places in town. Krel had only been to this place once before, when he followed Aja on her date with Steve, before being abducted by the Zeron Brotherhood. Now that he wasn't busy eavesdropping Aja’s conversation he could properly examine the place. 

The restaurant was small, but still had plenty of room so it didn't feel claustrophobic. The building had a ‘retro’ vibe, as the humans called it. Seamus led them to one of the tables near the large windows, taking a seat in one of the red benches. Krel sat across him, and a waiter came over to take their orders after a few seconds. They talked about aimless things, from a new video game that Seamus bought, to them ranting about Ms. Janeth's algebra class, as they waited for their orders. A chill spread through Krel’s body, making him shiver slightly. The place still had their AC running like it was any other summer day, and it just made the whole place feel extremely cold with the cool weather from outside. Seamus, mid-drink, noticed his ‘slight’ shiver, and he started shrugging off his jacket, offering to Krel, snapping him off from his attempts to calm the goosebumps on his arms (the bumps on his skin didn’t even resemble geese, and Krel was confused at the odd naming choice).

“Here,” Seamus said, his face red again. Krel just stared at him for a second, the same warm feeling from before settling in his chest. He felt his face begin to grow warm as he grabbed Seamus jacket, his fingers softly brushing the other’s hand.

“Thanks,” Krel mumbled, averting his eyes from Seamus, suddenly not being able to meet his eyes. Kleb, what was wrong with him? Never had he suddenly become shy all of a sudden,  _ if it even was shyness.  _ His face felt extremely warm, a clear juxtaposition with the chill air of the restaurant. He shoved his arms through the sleeves, zipping the jacket up with a little more force than necessary. He quickly glanced at Seamus, and found that the other was staring intently at the window, his face scarlet. Krel cleared his throat, wanting to break the awkward silence that had fallen between them. Seamus turned to face him at the sound, and Krel could see slight nervousness in his eyes. Krel opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when Seamus made a sudden noise of alarm.

“Dude are you okay?!” Seamus panicked, the nervousness in his eyes replaced with worry. Krel was confused to say the least. He stared dumbfoundedly at him for a second, his mind completely blank at the sudden change.

“W-what? What's wrong?” Krel said, voicing his confusion and slight concern as he glanced at himself. The rest of his body looked fine, was it his face? Was the tranductin failing? He was working on a transportable method of transduction, it was possible that he might have overlooked some bugs in his exhausted state. If so, it was just his luck for it to fail here of all places. He could feel panic starting to form in his core.

“Okay, I don’t want to freak you out man, but your face just turned a blue-ish purple. Are you dying?!” Seamus whisper-yelled, not wanting to cause a scene. Krel felt his core drop with dread, and broke into a panic as he fished for his phone, turning on the front facing camera to look at himself, ignoring Seamus’ panicked rambling. 

Checking himself, he found that he was still in his human form, his eyes were still white with their brown irises, and he let out a relieved sigh. He noticed that every time his transduction was about to give up, his eyes were the first things to fail, turning back into their normal black state with his neon blue irises. Looking closer into the screen he could see that his cheeks had a slight blue undertone, making the skin in his cheeks appear almost purple. He brought up a hand to touch his face, and found that his cheek was warm. That explained the sensation he felt earlier. He continued to examine his face, poking the soft fleshy skin, completely unaware of the confused look in Seamus’ face as he mumbled to himself. 

Seamus was looking at Krel intensively, confusion plain in his face, the gears in his mind working double time as he tried to understand what in the world was going on. Only when he overheard Krel mumbles of his face being warm did he connect the dots.

“Wait, you're blushing?!” Seamus exclaimed, bringing Krel’s attention back to him, before he snapped his mouth close, face turning a million shades of red. Krel stood there, gaping as he processed the new revelation. All this did was make his face even warmer, his blue-purple blush spreading across his face. Krel was shocked to say the least, he knew that blushing was a normal reaction for humans that occured for a number of reasons, but he had no clue what to feel at the moment. It was like his mind short-circuited, as it blanked out on him as he struggled to comprehend what in Seklos' name was the feeling invading his core. Seamus also looked completely stunned, but they were interrupted by the waiter that had returned with their orders. 

Not knowing what to do, Krel started to stuff his food to his mouth, a little similar to how he did when he was new to human food consumption. Quickly looking up he saw that Seamus had also chosen to distract himself with his food, awkward silence falling between them again. As he ate, he begged both Seklos and Gaylen to tell him what in the kleb was going on.

In his desperate attempt to occupy his mind from earlier, Krel noticed that the jacket Seamus lent him did make the chill of the restaurant more tolerable to deal with, even if the jacket was a little too big for him. The material on the inside was comfortable, and kept him warm without overheating him too much.

“The jacket’s nice,” Krel accidentally voiced his thoughts. He shut his mouth when he realized that he said that out loud, but the sound of Seamus' laugh made his embarrassment lessen. Looking up, he saw that Seamus was holding a hand to his mouth as he shook with laughter. Krel was still a little embarrassed but found himself laughing along, the whole situation was so absurd, Krel found it extremely hilarious for some reason. Maybe it was his nerves talking, but both boys continued to laugh harder, blushes coming back full force. Krel could still feel the awkward feeling in the back of his head, but he was grateful that the uncomfortable silence was over. Seamus tried to regain control of himself, opening his eye to peer at Krel as his giggles continued.

“You say the strangest things sometimes, I swear,” He said, smiling as he took a sip from his drink. There was a playful look in his eyes that made Krel’s flush from something else that wasn't from the lack of air.

“Like if you aren’t strange yourself,” Krel said back, trying his best to keep his voice from cracking. He pretended to look offended, crossing his arms and lifting his chin up for added effect, but couldn’t stop himself from smiling, causing them both to break into giggles again.

“But that’s okay,” Seamus said once they calmed down, looking at Krel with a soft look that made him melt from the inside. Krel’s emotions had been a whirlwind today, and now he had absolutely no clue what to feel anymore. He knew something between them had changed but if there was something Krel wasn’t well versed in, it was social interactions. He didn’t know what this meant, but the warm, soft feeling wasn’t entirely unwelcome. He gave Seamus a timid smile in return, both of them unconsciously leaning on the table between them to get closer. Krel noticed how emotions swam on Seamus’ blue eyes, and how his freckles that scattered his cheeks were in a pattern reminiscent of stars. 

He was torn from his trance as all the light bulbs in the building exploded, making both of them jump, a rather undignified scream escaping from Krel’s lips. The whole building fell to darkness, the only light coming from the windows, but even that was faint. Protesting from the rest of the restaurant's patrons could be heard throughout the restaurant, but Krel paid them no mind, as his mind was currently preoccupied with other things, like him desperately trying to regain control of his feelings. He was acutely aware that he and Seamus had been quite close before being startled by the lights, but he decided to push the implications of that to the back of his mind.

“Ugh, I am so done with all of these random blackouts all throughout town.” He heard Seamus complain. Krel noticed that his voice sounded strained, as if he was forcing himself to sound calm. So he wasn’t the only one that noticed how close they had gotten… honestly he didn’t know how to feel at this point. He was just thankful the darkness concealed his face.

“C’mon, if it’s anything like the other blackouts around town, then this will take awhile,” He said, gesturing to one of the staff walking around with flashlights to pay their bill. After doing so, they left the dark building into the cloudy outside. The clouds had darkened significantly from before, the promise of rain clear in the air.

“Am I right to assume that this is not normal summer weather?” Krel mused, frowning slightly at the sky above them. A breeze passed by them, and Krel was grateful that he had Seamus’ jacket with him.

“Nothing about this day so far has been normal,” Seamus laughed, stretching his arms out.

Krel couldn't help but agree.

* * *

After leaving the restaurant, they decided to take a seat in one of the benches in the plaza, talking amongst themselves. Seamus was desperate to have a casual conversation with Krel in which he didn’t get all flustered, but it seemed like the universe wasn't on his side. Still though, he decided to make the best of his time with Krel, making sure to repress what had happened in the restaurant in the back of his mind, so he could analyze it later. Seamus was in the middle of explaining a show to Krel when a loud voice broke through their conversation. Looking up, Seamus saw that the voice belonged to Logan. He was standing a few feet away from them, waving at them to catch their attention. He jogged the small distance between them, as Seamus and Krel stood up from their seat.

“Hey man! I haven't seen you since school ended!” He said after shooting a quick hi to Krel. “Where have you been dude?” 

“Dude, we literally texted yesterday,” Seamus laughed, pushing the other slightly when he tried to wrap an arm around his neck. Logan’s playful attitude normally didn’t bother him after years of hanging out with the guy, but right now he was refraining from doing another embarrassing thing in front of Krel. Logan just stuck his tongue out from being refrained from greeting Seamus like he always did.

“Hey uh, Krel was it?” Logan turned to Krel, inspecting him from head to toe. Seamus could feel his nerves start to rise slightly. Logan was one of the few people that had heard his rants about his newfound friend, apart from Steve of course, but he quickly stopped ranting to him once he learned about Steve’s crush on Krel’s sister (it was weird to rant about the brother of his friend’s crush). So it was strange to see one of his oldest friends seize up his newer friend (god, it hurt to just consider Krel as just his friend), and he started to feel nervous once again. Let’s just say that Seamus’ rants weren’t the best first impression of Krel. But Seamus was quick to inform him of his new relationship with Krel, so he shouldn’t be worried that much.  _ Right? _

“Yup,” Krel’s response brought Seamus focus back into the interaction in front of him, and he could feel himself start to be on edge. He knew Krel’s standoff-ish sarcastic tone could be taken the wrong way, if personal experience had anything to say, and while Logan was a really chill dude, even he had his limits. Didn’t help that Logan’s brows were currently furrowed. “And you are?”

Logan continued to frown as he took in Krel’s question, and Seamus was ready to have a heart attack right there and then. Luckily his heart attack would have to wait as Logan’s expression did a complete 180. He was giving Krel a friendly grin, but Seamus could see a glint of mischief in his eyes. Now Seamus was on edge for a completely different reason. If there was anything to fear from Logan, it was that he got along  _ too _ well with mischief.

“Logan! I’m surprised Seamus here hasn’t introduced us before, with how much he talks about you,” He just laughed as Seamus sent him the best glare he could muster given how much he was blushing. Krel’s phone rang before he could do anything else. Seamus let out a breath of relief, as the sudden phone call had saved him from another of Logan’s ‘funny’ comments.

“Sorry I have to take this really quick,” he said before walking a few steps from them. Once Krel was out of earshot, Seamus turned to Logan with murderous intent, completely ignoring the other’s cackles.

“Really?!” Seamus exclaimed indignantly, making the other wheeze harder in a way that sounded borderline painful.

“D-dude you should see your face!” Logan doubled over, leaning heavily unto Seamus for support. Seamus just waited for him to finish, annoyed with his friend's antics. It took a hot second for Logan to get it all out of his system, but he still wasn’t finished torturing Seamus since his eyes still shone with mischief.

“Hard to believe the guy you ranted to me for hours about is now wearing your jacket huh?” He asked smugly, way to satisfied at the embarrassment Seamus was feeling.

“Shut up,” Seamus retorted defensively, crossing his arms defiantly. Logan just chuckled at this. “What are you doing here anyways?”

“What? Did I interrupt your date?” He smiled innocently, eyes shining gleefully as Seamus went completely red. “Kidding! Was just gonna head to the store, a fuse exploded in a freak blackout and now I gotta pick a new one up.” He shrugged.

A sudden noise from Krel caught both of their attention, shutting off whatever thing they were going to say. Seamus could see that Krel was deep in conversation with whoever was on the other side of the line, tension visible to them from all the way over from where they were standing. Seamus could feel himself stand to worry, whatever happened that had gotten such a reaction from Krel must be serious.

“Well dude I gotta split now,” Logan’s voice brought his attention back. “Don’t want to hold you back from your date for too long.” Completely ignoring Seamus glare again, he patted his back before taking off.

“Oh yeah! Daniel is throwing a party at his place next weekend, and everyones invited! You should totally go dude! It’s been forever since we all went to one!” Logan exclaimed after a few steps. “You should also invite Krel! Dude looks like he needs it!” And with that he took off.

Seamus thought over Logan’s invitation. It  _ had  _ been awhile since he went to a full out party, but his dad would definitely skin him alive if he found out. But the idea of going to a party with Krel completely made him forget about any repercussions. He continued to ponder about the idea until he noticed that Krel had finished his call and was now walking towards him.

“Sorry Seamus, something came up back home and I have to head back now.” Seamus noticed that Krel had a look of irritation on his face, whatever happened back in his house must have really annoyed him.

“Hey man, it’s okay. C’mon I’ll give you a ride,” Seamus offered. He had ‘borrowed’ his dad’s car earlier since his dad had thrown a tantrum after the power blew from their house. He had parked it outside a small shop close by, so it wouldn’t be much of a bother. It was also a kind gesture that definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to spend more time with Krel. Not to say it literally looked like it was about to rain any second, and Seamus didn’t want Krel to get stuck out in the rain.

“Really? I thought you didn’t have a car?” Krel looked at him questionably.

“Pfft nah, it’s my dad’s car. Got my drivers license though!” They started the short walk to where the car was parked, Seamus listening attentively to Krel, who was recounting his past experience with drivers ed. As Krel recounted how Coach practically lost his marbles as he and Aja returned the car they had hijacked for reasons unclear, they approached his dad’s old car. Seamus turned the engine on as Krel climbed into the passenger seat. Asking Krel the directions of his house, they took off, music from the radio in the background as Krel finished his story.

As they approached the block Krel’s house was located in, the clouds finally broke, letting a heavy downpour of rain drops that crashed noisily with the roof of the car. He parked the car right in front of Krel’s door, not wanting the other to be out in the rain for too long.

“Thanks for the lunch by the way,” Krel turned to face him, warm smile on his face. “Here-” He said before starting to shrug off Seamus’ jacket, only to stop when said owner stopped his hands. It was a completely impulse reaction, holding Krel’s hands to stop him, one that was apparent when his face broke into a blush when he prossed what was happening.

“N-no it’s fine, you can keep it for a little longer. Y’know, until the rain clears up.” Seamus scrambled over his words, letting go of Krel’s hands in the process. 

“R-right”’ Krel nodded slowly, faint purple blush on his face. He turned towards the window, grimacing when he saw all of the mud that had piled on the sidewalk. “Well, see you later.” He said, before opening the door, closing it before taking off in a sprint towards the house door. Before going inside, he turned around, waving Seamus a quick goodbye before going inside. Seamus just kept staring at the door where Krel, before the sound of thunder brought him back to reality. As he drove off, his mind kept repeating the events of the day on loop, which was definitely not the safest thing if driving in conditions like these. He shook his head, reeling his focus back to the road in front of him, not wanting to have another accident with his dad’s car again. It was difficult though, with all of the crazy whirlwinds of emotions he was exposed with today.

_ God,  _ he was falling fast and hard. He just hoped he would survive the landing.

  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot??? in my fic???? its more likely than you think
> 
> anyways if you weren't able to tell, the ep this takes place on is Mother's Day (ep 4). I wanted to write a little of Trono's pov since i love him and he deserves so much better. Also if ur wondering why Krel is even outside to begin with, in the start of the ep after they all separate, Krel says he was going to check in with Stuart so I just ran with that lol  
> Same events as canon happens after this chapter (aja, krel, and toby fight tronos in warehouse, blah blah blah, Morando finds out about Gaylen's core, Krel comes up with the wormhole generator idea, good times)
> 
> I'll try not to take as long with the next chapter, but no promises lmao

**Author's Note:**

> Seamus only has like 5 minutes on screen, so im basically doing whatever I want with him.  
> Also shipping community, please band together because honestly we need a new name for this ship. The current one is too cursed.  
> Hasta luego, while I lay here sobbing because i dont have a switch, and i really want to play animal crossing.


End file.
